Russia’s Progress M-18M space freighter fragments sink in Pacific

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fragments of Russia’s Progress M-18M space freighter sank safely in the Pacific Ocean after re-entering the atmosphere on Friday, July 26, a spokesman for the Russian mission control center said, according to RIA Novosti.

The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) shortly after midnight Moscow time and started its final journey towards a remote location in the Pacific Ocean known as the “spacecraft cemetery.”

“At 4:42 Moscow time [00:42 a.m. GMT], fragments of the space freighter fell in the Pacific Ocean approximately 4,000 km from New Zealand’s capital Wellington,” the mission control spokesman said.

The launch of the next Russian cargo spacecraft to the ISS, Progress M-20M, is scheduled to take place at 00:45 Moscow time on Sunday (8:45 p.m. GMT on Saturday) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.