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Progress M-59 Sinks into Ocean
The Russian transport spaceship Progress M-59 sank into the Pacific Ocean on the evening of August 1 after undocking with the International Space Station. The heatproof elements of the craft that did not burn up upon entry into Earth's atmosphere fell into the section of the Pacific known as the “spaceship graveyard,” according to the press service of the Flight Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.
The location of the craft's fall is far from shipping routes ad about 3000 km. west of the capital of New Zealand. The sinking of the remains of the craft was absolutely safe, Flight Control emphasized.
The Progress M-59 was launched on January 18 of this year, timed to the 100th birthday of Sergey Korolev. The spacecraft brought fuel components to the space station that will be used to maintain its orbit, as well as scientific equipment, food for the crew and snails and worms for experiments.
On 6:02 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, the Progress M-59 undocked from the International Space Station and, when it was a safe distance from the station, it began it fall in to the ocean on a ballistic trajectory. Various forms of waste and outdated equipment were on the craft.
Progress M-61 will took off for the space station at 9:33 p.m. on August 2. That launch was dedicated to the 150th birthday of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. It is expected to reach the space station at 10:40 p.m., August 5.
www.kommersant.com
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