PROGRESS-M50 TO WEIGH ISS

MISSION CONTROL CENTER (MOSCOW REGION), August 14 (RIA Novosti) - Using engines of the docked Russian cargo ship Progress-M50, the center's specialists will make precision weighing of the International Space Station, Vladimir Solovyov, flight control officer of the Russian ISS segment, told journalists after the docking success.

"We know the weight is about 183 tons. Now, with the help of the physical laws and the Progress engines we'll learn its precise weight", he said.

The center's official representative, Valeri Lyndin, told RIA Novosti that, "during the independent flight of the Progress to the station, our specialists took accurate thrust measurements of all the eight engines".

With the cargo ship docked to the ISS, calculations will be made according to the well-known physical law: force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. "We know the thrust, acceleration is measured by ISS instruments and, therefore, a precise mass can be easily measured", the specialist said.

In his turn, Mr. Solovyov noted that "space flights are a costly affair. Our principle is to be thrifty managers and do something new each time. Now, we'll learn the ISS precise mass".

The Progress-M50 cargo ship docked with the ISS orbital station at 09:01, Moscow time, on Saturday.