A Russian “space truck” met its fiery downfall on its way home to Earth.
The cargo ship Progress MS-15 of Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, broke apart when it burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere after it was released from the International Space Station yesterday (February 8). The astronauts who lived in the space station watched the spacecraft’s fiery downfall from above and shared the experience on social media.
Goodbye, Progress 76P MS-15! #Russia cargo spacecraft detached from #ISS, and successfully burned, ” JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi tweeted with a photo taken from the space station, which causes the cargo ships to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere below.
Related: The Russian Progress cargo ship explained
Goodbye, Progress 76P MS-15! #Russian cargo spacecraft disconnected from #ISS and burned successfully. # ロ シ ア ア ロ ロ グ ス 宇宙 、 役 役 目 終 終 大 圏 突入 突入 時 の 夜空 に 燃 燃 え る る 瞬間 瞬間 見 事AK OL AK AK AKFebruary 9, 2021
Roscosmos launches Progress MS-15 (also known as Progress 76) to the space station on 23 July 2020 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The vessel arrived on the stick only 3 hours 18 minutes and 31 seconds after the start, arriving in record time. according to Roscosmos. It was a routine delivery of more than 2.5 tons of cargo to the station. Cargo missions such as these deliver food and other astronaut supplies, in addition to scientific equipment and experiments, to the space station.
At the farewell of the rig, cosmonaut Roscosmos Ivan Vagner, who returned to Earth on October 22 last year, shared some photos on Twitter of the craft that arrived at the space station this past summer. “The # ProgressMS15 cargo spacecraft released from the International @Space station at 08:21 Moscow time. Recently, on July 23, 2020, we had it aboard the #ISS. “Today I want to share with you the photos taken during the docking,” he wrote.
The # ProgressMS15 cargo spacecraft unlocked from the International @ Space_Station at 08:21 Moscow time. Recently, on July 23, 2020, we received it aboard the #ISS. Today I want to share with you the photos taken during the docking. pic.twitter.com/BvJuH2cUg6February 9, 2021
The cargo ship spent about seven months in the space attached to the space station. Yesterday, MS-15 got loose from the station, traveled from the station, got close enough to be pulled out of orbit near the earth and burned up in the atmosphere of our planet, a deliberate maneuver and proceeded as planned.
“After the preparations for decoupling were completed, an order was issued to open the Progress MS-15 spacecraft hooks; it was decoupled from the station and sent away. After the spacecraft was withdrawn at a safe distance from the station, the specialists of the TsNIIMash Mission Control Center (MCC, part of Roscosmos) started the controlled debit of the spacecraft, “Roscosmos” said in a statement.
The non-combustible components of the craft that land and sink in a “non-navigable region of the South Pacific”. Roscosmos said in another statement.
“Non-combustible structural elements will fall into the calculated area of the Pacific Ocean’s immobile region. The estimated fragments fall area about 1,680 km east of Wellington (New Zealand). Roscosmos has completed all the necessary procedures to flag it. “as temporarily dangerous for maritime and air travel,” the agency said. wrote.
The next ‘space truck’ to deliver supplies from Russia to the space station is Progress MS-16, a cargo spacecraft that will deliver 2.5 tonnes of cargo on 17 February. Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov prepare for the expected arrival.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook