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Progress Capsule Undocks from ISS

New Russian spacecraft ready to launch in its place

Jan 25, 2012 09:48 GMT  ·  By
This is the Progress M-13M space capsule, on its approach to the ISS on November 2, 2011
   This is the Progress M-13M space capsule, on its approach to the ISS on November 2, 2011

Officials with the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) announce that the Progress M-13M resupply capsule has undocked from the International Space Station on Monday, January 23. The move was meant to make room for another Progress capsule, which launches today, January 25.

Progress M-13M spent 82 days docked to the orbital outpost, after reaching the station on November 2. It carried more than 3 tons of supplies, including food, water, oxygen, scientific experiments and personal items for the Expedition 29/30 crew.

The spacecraft launched on October 30, 2011, from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, aboard a Soyuz-U delivery system. It was the first successful launch after the August failure of another Progress spacecraft, which forced RosCosmos to reevaluate its entire space fleet.

Soon after undocking from the ISS, the Progress capsule was moved to a higher orbit, where mission controllers had it deploy a scientific satellite before reentering Earth's atmosphere. The entire spacecraft was destroyed high above the surface on Tuesday, Spaceflight Now reports.

The Chibis-M plasma studies microsatellite was deployed at 6:19 pm EST (2319GMT) on January 24. An important objective for the mission is studying the physical processes that underlie terrestrial gamma-ray flashes.

The Progress M-13M (or 45P) capsule was filled with thrash and other useless items from the ISS as it burned up in the atmosphere. Any potential debris that may have survived the reentry splashed harmlessly into the ocean, without causing any damage.

Now that a docking port is clear on the Russian-built Pirs module, RosCosmos is getting ready to launch a new resupply capsule to the ISS. The Progress M-14M capsule will launch from Baikonur today, January 25, at around 6:06 pm EST (2306 GMT).

The spacecraft is carrying several tons of supplies for the space station, and will remain attached to the orbital lab until the next Progress mission is scheduled to launch. Rendezvous between the capsule and the ISS is scheduled to occur on Friday, January 27, at around 7:08 pm EST (0008 GMT, January 28).