A Russian cargo spacecraft undocked on Monday from the International Space Station (ISS) to perform a series of scientific experiments in space before splashing in the Pacific on April 21, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said, RIA Novosti reports. “The Progress-17M space freighter undocked from the Zvezda module of the Russian segment on ISS at 04.02 pm Moscow time [12:02 GMT],” Roscosmos said in a statement.
“In the next six days, the spacecraft will conduct a series of scientific experiments under the Radar-Progress project,” the statement said. The project focuses on the study the physical characteristics of the ionosphere environment around the spacecraft caused by the firing of its liquid-propellant engines.
The Progress-M17 arrived at the orbital station on October 31 last year. During the mission, its engines were used several times to adjust the ISS orbit.
The departure of Progress M-17M clears a docking port on the Zvezda module for the next Russian resupply vehicle, Progress M-19M, which will blast off aboard a Soyuz-U carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on April 24.
Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service
