SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C#31468

A new Progress freighter launched to the International Space Station Friday at 11:25 p.m. EDT with more than 2.5 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies and equipment aboard.

The station's 25th Progress unpiloted cargo carrier will bring to the orbiting laboratory more than 1,050 pounds of propellant, almost 100 pounds of air, more than 925 pounds of water and 3,042 pounds of dry cargo – a total of 5,125 pounds.

+ Read about the Progress 25 launch http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/exp15_progress25_launch.html

In preparation for the arrival of the cargo craft on Tuesday, the Expedition 15 crew spent some time Friday brushing up on training with the telerobotically operated rendezvous system they would use to manually guide in the Progress 25 cargo craft for docking in the unlikely event its automated system encountered a problem.

On Sunday, May 13, Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, along with Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, will deliver a special message from the space station to Jamestown, Va., as part of the Jamestown Anniversary Weekend. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will introduce the space explorers to a crowd expected to include President George Bush and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

+ Read more about NASA and the Jamestown Anniversary Weekend http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/jamestown2007.html