Cargo tanker will be docked to the Mir station

Preparation is underway in the Baikonur cosmodrome for a launch of the Progress M1-5 cargo-tanker ship that will be docked to the Mir orbital station. Specialists expect the docking to be conducted in the automatic regime although the apparatuses maintaining Mir's position have been turned off on Monday due to malfunctioning. Mir's orientation is currently sustained by micro-engines that are switched on by the main computer of the station. If problems arise during the docking, the Soyuz TM spaceship carrying a rescue crew will be sent to the station. The crew will manually dock the two spacecraft, RIA Novosti reports. The automatic docking is planned for the morning of January 27. Progress M1-5 will deliver fuel that will be used to de-orbit the station before it falls into an earth's ocean in early March.