 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Russia's Last Analogue Space Freighter Buried In Pacific
Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Sep 29, 2009 Russia's last cargo spaceship with an analogue control system plunged on Sunday into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, the Russian Mission Control said. "Fragments of the Progress M-67 space freighter with waste material from the International Space Station (ISS) drowned at about 14.20 Moscow time [10.20 GMT]...several thousand kilometers to the east of New Zealand," space officials said. Progress M-67, which arrived at the ISS on July 29 bringing 2.5 tons of supplies, including fuel, water and various equipment, undocked from the orbital station on September 21. During its automatic flight, the craft was used as a laboratory to conduct a series of geophysical experiments under the Plasma-Progress program. Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments. The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled. Meanwhile, a docking station at the Zvezda module on the ISS, which has been vacated by the Progress space freighter, is being prepared to receive a Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft with new members of Expedition 21 on October 2. Russia's Soyuz-FG carrier rocket bearing the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft is due for liftoff from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on September 30. The Soyuz TMA-16 crew comprises Russian astronaut Maxim Surayev and Jeff Williams from the U.S. Guy Laliberte, founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, will join the mission as a space tourist.
Source: RIA Novosti Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links - Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
Funding Shortfalls Have Hurt NASA's Constellation ProgramWashington DC (SPX) Sep 28, 2009 The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report, "NASA: Constellation Program Cost and Schedule Will Remain Uncertain Until a Sound Business Case is Established". The report was requested by House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), as part of the Committee's ongoing oversight of NASA's major acquisition programs. NASA's Constellation program ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook