science

Progress M-16M

Progress M-16M is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Progress M-16M rather than just read about it. In short: Progress M-16M (Russian: Прогресс М-16М), identified by NASA as Progress 48P, is a Progress spacecraft used by Roskosmos to resupply the International Space Station during 2012. The sixteenth Progress-M 11F615A60 spacecraft, it has the serial number 416 and was built by RKK Energia.

Key takeaways

Progress M-16M belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Progress M-16M to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Progress M-16M from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Progress M-16M (Russian: Прогресс М-16М), identified by NASA as Progress 48P, is a Progress spacecraft used by Roskosmos to resupply the International Space Station during 2012. The sixteenth Progress-M 11F615A60 spacecraft, it has the serial number 416 and was built by RKK Energia. It was the 126th launch to the ISS and the fifteenth Russian space launch in 2012. It was also the seventh mission for the Soyuz family of rockets since the beginning of the year.

Launch The spacecraft was launched on time at 19:35:13 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on 1 August 2012. Ten minutes after liftoff, the Soyuz-U rocket carrying Progress M-16M successfully delivered the spacecraft to orbit to begin its International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission.

Docking Progress M-16M debuted the use of a fast approach rendezvous profile that saw the spacecraft docking on its fourth orbit, as opposed to docking about 50 hours after launch on previous Progress flights. This profile allows the transportation of critical biological payloads to the ISS. After testing on Progress flights, the same rendezvous profile is being used on human Soyuz flights to reduce crew fatigue.

Hurricane Leslie (2012)

Partially obstructed by two Russian spacecraft in the foreground, Tropical cyclone Leslie is clearly seen in the Atlantic Ocean on 9 September 2012, as photographed by one of the Expedition 32 crew members aboard the International Space Station. At the time of the photo, Leslie was centered near 33.4° North latitude and 62.1° West longitude (approximately 300 km east-northeast of Bermuda) moving northward at 25 km per hour with winds of 100 km per hour.

Undocking and decay Progress M-16M departed the Pirs Docking Compartment at 13:15:27 UTC on 9 February 2013 performing a nominal undocking to begin a very short free flight.

Cargo Progress M-16M was packed with 1242 kilograms of equipment, food, clothing, life support system gear (dry cargo), 680 kilograms of propellant to replenish reservoirs that feed the Russian maneuvering thrusters, 420 kilograms of water and 47 kilograms of oxygen and air.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Progress M-16M

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Progress M-16M claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Progress M-16M before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Progress M-16M ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Progress M-16M

In research: Progress M-16M appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Progress M-16M in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Progress M-16M is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Progress (spacecraft) missions, Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets, Spacecraft launched in 2012, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Progress M-16M outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Progress M-16M in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Progress M-16M means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Progress M-16M out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Progress M-16M in simple terms?

Why does Progress M-16M matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Progress M-16M?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Progress M-16M.