BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Follow the four-month mission of first resident crew of the international space station as well as the STS-98 flight of space shuttle Atlantis to deliver the U.S. laboratory Destiny. Reload this page for the very latest.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2001
0952 GMT (4:52 a.m. EST)

Progress M-44 is the third Russian-built cargo vessel to dock with the International Space Station. The station crew is now working to complete the docking process. They will open the hatch to the Progress in an hour or two after checking the air-tight seals between the craft.

0950 GMT (4:50 a.m. EST)

Contact and capture! The Progress has docked. The station is now in free-drift.

0949 GMT (4:49 a.m. EST)

Kurs system now correcting for minor misalignment. Distance: 5 metres.

0947 GMT (4:47 a.m. EST)

Distance to station: 15 metres. Russian flight controllers reporting perfect alignment between the Progress and the station.

0946 GMT (4:46 a.m. EST)

Progress now 20 metres away.

0945 GMT (4:45 a.m. EST)

Distance to station now around 38 metres. Television views from the Progress clearly show the Soyuz TM craft at its new docking port.

0944 GMT (4:44 a.m. EST)

Gidzenko is monitoring the cargo ship's approach and could take over by remote control should there be a problem with the automatic Kurs rendezvous system.

0942 GMT (4:42 a.m. EST)

Television now being received from the Progress.

0940 GMT (4:40 a.m. EST)

Although we have not yet received television, Russian flight controllers are happy with the telemetry they are seeing and have commanded the Progress to resume its approach to the station.

0939 GMT (4:39 a.m. EST)

We are standing by for television pictures from the Progress via Russian ground stations.

0937 GMT (4:37 a.m. EST)

We are about a minute away from passing into the range of Russian tracking stations. Flight controllers will then receive telemetry and television from the Progress.

0932 GMT (4:32 a.m. EST)

The Progress will resume its approach to the station at 0943 GMT.

0928 GMT (4:28 a.m. EST)

Gidzenko reports that the Progress is correctly aligned with the aft docking port of the Zvezda module. The craft will station-keep at a distance of 160 metres for about 15 minutes.

0925 GMT (4:25 a.m. EST)

The Visiting Vehicle Officer in Houston's mission control reports the Progress is now braking. The craft will station keep about 175 metres from the station before closing in for docking.

0924 GMT (4:24 a.m. EST)

The cargo ship is now 200 metres from the station. It's approach has now slowed to less than one metre per second.

0921 GMT (4:21 a.m. EST)

The two craft are now 250 metres apart. The Progress M-44 and is closing in at a rate of 1.5 metres per second. Everything is going smoothly according to NASA commentator Rob Navias.

0915 GMT (4:15 a.m. EST)

The Progress is about 925 metres from the station and is closing at a rate of 2 metres per second.

0913 GMT (4:13 a.m. EST)

Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko reports that the space station's solar arrays are correctly positioned for this morning's Progress docking. He is receiving television from a camera on the cargo ship. The two craft are due to link up at about 0950 GMT (4:50 a.m. EST).

0501 GMT (12:01 a.m. EST)

The Russian Progress M-44 cargo ship is scheduled to dock with the international space station today at 0948 GMT (4:48 a.m. EST), delivering equipment and supplies for the outpost's current and future residents. We will have live updates on this page starting at 0900 GMT.

In the meantime, see a graphic illustrating the Progress' approach and our detailed docking timeline.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2001
0910 GMT (4:10 a.m. EST)

The Progress M-44 cargo freighter is bound for the international space station today after being propelled into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-U rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Liftoff occurred at 0809:35 GMT (3:09:35 a.m. EST).

The unmanned Progress -- the third to be launched to the new station -- is carrying food, water, propellant for refueling the Russian Zvezda service module, equipment to perform biomedical experiments, tools for the astronauts to make repairs, consumables for the outpost's air purification system and life support equipment needed by the Expedition Two crew scheduled for a four-month stay aboard ISS beginning next month.

The supply vessel is scheduled to link up with the station's aft docking port of Zvezda on Wednesday at about 0948 GMT (4:48 a.m. EST).

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2001
1050 GMT (5:50 a.m. EST)

Hooks have been driven closed to complete the Soyuz ferry craft's hard docking to the Zarya module's nadir port. Russian flight controllers have told the crew to hold off carrying out leak checks until the space station is back in direct contact with Russian ground stations. That will take about an hour and a half.

Today's Soyuz relocation went off without a hitch, despite poor communications between the station and mission control in Moscow, freeing up the Zvezda module's aft port for arrival of an unmanned Progress supply ship next Wednesday.

This concludes our coverage of the Soyuz relocation. Updates will be filed, however, if warranted.

1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. EST)

Pilot Yuri Gidzenko successfully guided the Soyuz capsule to a docking with the Zarya module's Earth-facing, or nadir, port at 5:37 a.m. (1037 GMT), a few minutes agead if schedule. Electrical connections have been made and if all goes well, hatches between the Soyuz and the Zarya module will be opened around 8:40 a.m. (1340 GMT).

1035 GMT (5:35 a.m. EST)

Russian flight controllers are waiting for a good television picture from the Soyuz ferry craft to confirm proper alignment with Zarya's nadir docking port before clearing pilot Yuri Gidzenko to begin final approach.

1022 GMT (5:22 a.m. EST)

The Soyuz vehicle is about 40 meters from the Zarya docking port.

1015 GMT (5:15 a.m. EST)

Russian flight controllers say the Soyuz vehicle should be redocked with the international space station by 5:45 a.m. (1045 GMT)

1006 GMT (5:06 a.m. EST)

The Soyuz vehicle separated from the international space station at 5:06:20 a.m. EST as the two spacecraft sailed high above the central Atlantic Ocean. The space station is now unoccupied for the first time since November 2.

1005 GMT (5:05 a.m. EST)

The international space station is now in free drift. Flight controllers in Moscow have told the ISS crew to continue with the relocation timeline per the schedule despite poor communications. Commands to open hooks holding the Soyuz in place on the Zvezda command module's aft port have been sent.

1000 GMT (5:00 a.m. EST)

Flight controllers continue to struggle with intermittent communications between Moscow and the Soyuz ferry craft carrying Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev and William Shepherd.

0950 GMT (4:50 a.m. EST)

Flight controllers in Moscow and Houston are attempting to re-establish communications with the ISS crew inside their Soyuz transfer vehicle. Contact was lost around 4:40 a.m., presumably due to a communications configuration problem.

2200 GMT (4:15 a.m. EST)

Soyuz pilot Yuri Gidzenko, flight engineer Sergei Krikalev and ISS commander William Shepherd are inside their Soyuz ferry craft preparing to undock from the international space station. The ISS is maneuvering to the undocking attitude, or orientation, in preparation for separation in about one hour.

The crew is moving the Soyuz from the Zvezda command module's aft port to the Earth-facing, or nadir, port of the Zarya module. This will free up the Zvezda port for the arrival of the station's next Progress supply ship.

The Progress is scheduled for launch at 3:09 a.m. EST (0809 GMT) on Feb. 26. Docking is expected at 4:48 a.m. (0948 GMT) on Feb. 28.

Today's Soyuz relocation is expected to take about half an hour starting with undocking around 5:08 a.m. (1008 GMT) If all goes well Gidzenko will complete the short flyaround maneuver by 5:22 a.m. (1022 GMT) and begin final approach seven minutes later. Docking is expected around 5:34 a.m. (1034 GMT).

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2001

The three-man Expedition One crew living aboard the international space station will depart the orbiting outpost for a short time Saturday to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port. The Soyuz needs to be relocated to make way for an unmanned Progress supply ship scheduled for launch Monday.

With Soyuz Pilot Yuri Gidzenko at the controls, and joined by Commander Bill Shepherd and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, the Soyuz will be undocked from the station at 5:08 a.m. EST (1008 GMT).

Gidzenko will back the Soyuz away from the aft docking port of the Zvezda Service Module and fly around the station to redock the Soyuz to the nadir, or earthward-facing, docking port of the Zarya Control Module.

The relocation maneuver should take about 30 minutes to complete. Television from the Soyuz is expected for a few minutes during the redocking over Russian ground stations.

The repositioning of the Soyuz will set the stage for the docking of the Russian Progress resupply vehicle to the Zvezda's aft docking port next Wednesday.

Watch this page for live updates on the Soyuz move on Saturday!

Read our earlier status center coverage.