PROGRESS M-57

Progress M-57 was launched at 11: 08, June 24, 2006 and entered orbit a few minutes later. Following a standard 2-day rendezvous, the new Progress docked to Pirs’ nadir at 12:25, June 26. Unloading of the 2,578kg of cargo, including 1,161kg of dry goods, began the following day. With Progress in place, the last week of June was spent preparing for Discovery’s arrival. The crew flushed the pipes in Quest, in preparation for the Shuttle crew’s planned EVAs. Progress M-57 would be unloaded after Discovery had returned to Earth; its pressurised compartment would then be used as a temporary storage area, to hold many of the items delivered in Discovery’s MPLM.