The spacecraft is seen burning up during atmospheric reentry

Nov 4, 2011 21:01 GMT  ·  By

On October 29, the Progress 42P spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS) in low-Earth orbit (LEO), delivering supplies and personal items for the Expedition 29 Crew. Later that day, it undocked and reentered Earth's atmosphere, as astronauts filmed its fiery demise.

This video was shot between 12:49:23 and 12:54:07 GMT, and then sped up so that people could see how the unmanned, Russian-built space capsule disintegrated high above the surface, some 900 miles (nearly 1,450 kilometers) east of New Zealand, in the South Pacific Ocean.

Astronauts kept track of the descent by capturing a series of images using cameras outside the ISS, and then stitching the photos together in this short clip. Progress 42P broke apart and burned as it was traveling southeastwards above the Pacific, SpaceRef reports.