Russia's progress spacecraft docks with ISS 6 hours after launch

Russia's Progress class space freighter automatically docked with the International Space Station just six hours after blasting off from Earth, a spokesman for the Mission Control said on Thursday. A Soyuz-U rocket carrying the Progress-M-16M cargo spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft docked with the ISS on the fourth revolution around Earth and six minutes ahead of the scheduled time, (RIA Novosti) reported. It was for the first time, when Russia docked the space freighter with the ISS in the first six hours after the launch rather than in two days, which was a routine procedure. Progress-M-16M delivered over 2.5 metric tons of supplies, including food, water and scientific equipment, to a six-man crew onboard the orbital station.