Progress 46, a Russian cargo spacecraft carrying about a ton of space waste, is schedule to splash down into the Pacific ocean today, at approximately 6:45pm Moscow time. The spacecraft’s specifically targeted “burial site” is in a remote region of the water, far from any shipping routes, though by the time it’s splashed down into the blue the dense layers of the Earth’s atmosphere will have burned the Progress into not-too-threatening debris.
Last week, Progress 47, a robotic spacecraft carrying 2.5 tonnes of food, fuel and supplies, docked at the International Space Station, replacing the now garbage-filled and dismissed Progress 46. Such is the life of a robotic cargo spacecraft; Progress 47 is bound for her own watery grave sometime this July.
[Itar-Tass via Breaking News, Space.com – Image via Space.com]