Russia Launches Fresh Fruit, Oxygen to Crew on ISS

A Russian Soyuz-U carrier rocket has blasted off from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan with fresh fruit and oxygen for the crew on board the International Space Station, Mission Control Center said Tuesday.

"The Soyuz blasted off at the scheduled time...in the next six hours the cargo ship will deliver to the ISS fuel, oxygen, and food, including fresh apples, grapefruits, and oranges," a Mission Control source said.

The Progress M-26M cargo vessel is due to dock with the ISS at 16:59 GMT.

Meanwhile, the fifth and final European space truck Georges Lemaitre, developed under the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) program, was undocked from the ISS on February 14.

Earlier in the day, Russian space agency Roscosmos said that three more launches of space ships from the Progress family to the ISS will be conducted this year: on April 28, August 6 and October 22.

In October, Russia will launch the first modernized space truck Progress-MS.