Russian rocket launches to resupply ISS

Resupply missions to the International Space Station rarely fail -- let alone twice in row, like the last two did. That may make the arrival of the Russian cargo spacecraft that launched Friday all the more welcome -- even if the ISS does keep a large backlog of supplies on board. The crewless ProgressM-28M lifted from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just before 8:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. GMT) and cut a clean path through a clear blue sky en route to a low-Earth orbit. Minutes later, the Soyuz-U cargo vehicle successfully separated from the rest of the rocket, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency, also called Roscosmos. And it was on course to deliver 5,249 pounds (2,381 kilograms) of supplies to the ISS on Sunday. They include food, water, oxygen, fuel and scientific apparatuses. Mission fails Missions like this are fairly routine, but three spacecraft bound for the ISS with tons of supplies have been lost since last October -- including the two most recent. This past Sunday, one blew to pieces shortly after liftoff. The SpaceX Falcon9 rocket was boosting a Dragon supply capsule stocked with a spacesuit, water filtration equipment, food, water, and experiments submitted by students. It also carried a docking adapter which was to allow people to arrive aboard America's first crewed spacecraft since the space shuttle. All was lost.