The International Space Station's Russian commander took manual control of an approaching cargo ship Saturday, overriding the freighter's autopilot after it experienced an apparent problem getting oriented toward the outpost.

Expedition 23 commander Oleg Kotov was instructed by Russian flight controllers at 2:12 p.m. EDT to activate the TORU system, which uses video screens and joysticks to remotely fly the Progress M-05M spacecraft from inside the space station. The vessel was unable to get situated in the proper attitude after completing one of the propulsion maneuvers when nearing the station, NASA reported.

The craft joins the previous resupply ship that arrived in February and remains affixed to the outpost's Zvezda module, plus two Soyuz crew transport capsules currently residing at the Zarya and Poisk ports.