MOSCOW A cargo craft carrying supplies docked with the International Space Station on Tuesday in preparation for the first long-term manned mission to the orbital laboratory, officials were quoted as saying.
ITAR-TASS news agency quoted officials at mission control outside Moscow as saying that the Progress M1-3 had docked with the station at 2013 GMT.
The space station, being built jointly by the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan, has been described as one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever and will cost up to $60 billion.
When complete, in 2005 according to schedule, it will loom seven storeys high and become one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Seven full-time crew members will live and work in a space as big as the cabin of a Booing 747 Jumbo jet.
Russia sent into orbit the Zvezda living quarters module last month, making possible a four-month mission to the station by two Russians and one American planned to begin on October 30.
(Reuter)