PHOTOS: Russia makes express delivery to space station

Russia launched a Progress resupply freighter Wednesday on a six-hour journey to the International Space Station, delivering nearly 3 tons of fuel and supplies to the orbiting scientific research laboratory after a smooth automated rendezvous.

The unpiloted Progress M-22M spacecraft lifted off on top of a Soyuz rocket at 1623:33 GMT (11:23:33 a.m. EST) in temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, kicking off an expedited six-hour rendezvous with the space station.

Docking with the space station's Pirs module occurred on radar-guided autopilot at 2222 GMT (5:22 p.m. EST).

See our full story for more details on the mission.

Credit: Roscosmos