Progress M-8

Progress M-8
Mission typeMir resupply
COSPAR ID1991-038A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.21395Edit this on Wikidata
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeProgress-M 11F615A55
ManufacturerNPO Energia
Launch mass7,250 kilograms (15,980 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date30 May 1991, 08:04:03 (1991-05-30UTC08:04:03Z) UTC
RocketSoyuz-U2
Launch siteBaikonur Site 1/5
End of mission
DisposalDeorbited
Decay date16 August 1991, 06:59:32 (1991-08-16UTC06:59:33Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude391 kilometres (243 mi)[1]
Apogee altitude394 kilometres (245 mi)[1]
Inclination51.6 degrees
Docking with Mir
Docking portCore Forward
Docking date1 June 1991, 09:44:37 UTC
Undocking date15 August 1991, 22:16:59 UTC
Time docked75 days

Progress M-8 (Russian: Прогресс М-8) was a Soviet uncrewed cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1991 to resupply the Mir space station.[2] The twenty-sixth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it used the Progress-M 11F615A55 configuration,[3] and had the serial number 207.[4] It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-9 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. It also carried the Naduvaniy Hazovoy Ballon satellite, which was subsequently deployed from Mir.[5]

Progress M-8 was launched at 08:04:03 GMT on 30 May 1991, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.[4] Following two days of free flight, it docked with the forward port of Mir's core module at 09:44:37 GMT on 1 June.[6][7]

During the 75 days for which Progress M-8 was docked, Mir was in an orbit of around 391 by 394 kilometres (211 by 213 nmi), inclined at 51.6 degrees.[1] Progress M-8 undocked from Mir at 22:16:59 GMT on 15 August, and was deorbited the next day, to a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean at around 06:59:32.[1][6]

  1. ^ a b c d McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  2. ^ "Progress M-8". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  3. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Progress-M 1 - 13, 15 - 37, 39 - 67 (11F615A55, 7KTGM)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  4. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  5. ^ Wade, Mark. "Mir EO-9". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on January 7, 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  6. ^ a b Anikeev, Alexander. "Cargo spacecraft "Progress M-8"". Manned Astronautics - Figures & Facts. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  7. ^ Wade, Mark. "Progress M". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-08-28.