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Uncrewed Russian Cargo Spacecraft Returns Safely to Earth
An uncrewed Russian cargo spacecraft completed its mission by safely reentering Earth’s atmosphere on the planned date of May 28. The Progress 86 freighter detached from the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT) and descended back to our planet, burning up as intended over the Pacific Ocean.
Progress 86 was launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 1, 2023. Two days later, it docked at the ISS, offloading 5,600 pounds (2,540 kilograms) of essential supplies, including food and scientific equipment for the crew on board.
As it concluded its mission, Progress 86 functioned as a garbage disposal unit, disposing of waste materials by incinerating them in Earth’s atmosphere. Currently, four spacecraft are still stationed at the ISS, including the Dragon capsule for SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission, a Russian Soyuz crew spacecraft, the Progress 87 freighter, and a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo vehicle.
Evolving Space Technologies
Despite Progress and Cygnus being designated for one-time use, the Soyuz and SpaceX Dragon capsules, in both cargo and crewed configurations, are capable of surviving reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. The Soyuz crew craft lands on solid ground, while the Dragon capsules make gentle splashdowns in the ocean.
Upcoming missions to the ISS include the launch of Russia’s Progress 88 freighter, scheduled for early morning on May 30, and Boeing’s first crewed launch of the Starliner capsule on Saturday afternoon, June 1. This mission, named Crew Flight Test, will ferry two NASA astronauts to the orbital outpost for a week-long stay, aiming to certify the Starliner for longer crewed missions in the future.
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