Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) assumed manual control of an approaching cargo ship carrying numerous supplies following a malfunction in its automated rendezvous system.

The unmanned cargo ship, named Progress 86, successfully docked with the ISS’s Russian-built Poisk module under the remote guidance of Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Monitoring its approach from inside the ISS, Kononenko utilized a system called TORU to remotely take control of the cargo ship, Space.com reported.

This intervention occurred while Progress 86 was circling the station at a distance of approximately 150 meters, prompted by a malfunction in the cargo ship’s Kurs automated rendezvous system.

“During the flyaround, the Progress vehicle started drifting away from the expected attitude and was not aligned with the docking target,” NASA spokesperson Anna Schneider said during live commentary. “The crew aboard the International Space Station has taken over manual control and recovered the expected attitude.” 

At 6:18 a.m., Kononenko successfully docked the Progress 86 spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS), concluding a two-day spaceflight that commenced on Friday, December 1.

Written by B.C. Begley