- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Progress M-60 ditched in Pacific after research mission - 1

Subscribe
(Adds background in paras 2-5)

MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Progress M-60 cargo spacecraft ended its five-day research mission, and was ditched in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night, a mission control spokesman said.

The Progress M-60, which arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in May, delivered 2.5 tons of equipment and supplies to the ISS's current Russian-American crew, including Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov, and NASA astronaut Sunita Williams.

The head of Russian spacecraft manufacturer Energia, Nikolai Sevastyanov, said it had cost more than $64 million to ship the 2.5-ton cargo to the ISS, with delivery of one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of payload by a Progress freighter costing, on average, $22,000 to $25,000.

The spacecraft was used to correct the International Space Station's orbit in preparation for the docking of the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour July 24, as well as assist with experiments to study the behavior of plasma particles in the exhaust from the ship's engines at various stages in the flight.

The Progress left orbit at 11:47 p.m. Moscow time (7:47 p.m. GMT), and landed in the so called spaceship cemetery not far from Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, where the Mir station was "buried" in 2000.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала