A Russian Progress spacecraft out of control with three tons of cargo for the International Space Station on board could, according to NASA, burn in the atmosphere next week.
Instead of delivering cargo and food for the six members of its crew to the station, Progress turned into an expensive piece of space debris, one of half a million large enough to be tracked by Air Force radars.
There is an investigation into the unsuccessful flight of a space truck. Preliminary results indicate a problem in separating the spacecraft from the Soyuz launch vehicle. Near the rotating "Progress" pieces of space debris are also seen.
The United States Air Force Space Operations Command reports that there are 44 different debris in the immediate vicinity of a cargo transport ship. However, it is not yet possible to establish whether these fragments are parts of the launch vehicle or not. On Wednesday, the Russian Space Agency reported that the flight control center had lost contact with the Progress spacecraft one and a half seconds before its separation from the third stage of the launch vehicle. The combined command of the Air Force continuously monitors and analyzes the trajectory of the spacecraft and debris around it. The possibility of their collision is estimated. An analysis of possible risks and measures to ensure universal maximum security is being conducted.
On Friday, the Progress elliptical orbit passed at an altitude of 118 miles from the surface of the Earth. You can watch the flight path online in real time on n2yo.com, where the emergency spacecraft is designated as Progress-M 27M.
