Progress M-53

Progress M-53 (Прогресс М-53), identified by NASA as Progress 18P, was a Progress spacecraft used to resupply the International Space Station. It was a Progress-M 11F615A55 spacecraft, with the serial number 353.

Launch
Progress M-53 was launched by a Soyuz-U carrier rocket from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Launch occurred at 23:09:34 UTC on 16 June 2005.

Docking
The spacecraft docked with the aft port of the Zvezda module at 00:41:31 UTC on 19 June 2005. The docking was conducted using the backup TORU system, under the control of cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, due to a power failure at one of the spacecraft's ground control stations. It remained docked for 80 days before undocking at 10:25:57 UTC on 7 September 2005 to make way for Progress M-54. It was deorbited at 13:26:00 UTC on 7 September 2005. The spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, with any remaining debris landing in the ocean at around 14:12:40 UTC.

Progress M-53 carried supplies to the International Space Station, including food, water and oxygen for the crew and equipment for conducting scientific research.