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Doomed Russian Spacecraft Re-Enters Atmosphere Over Pacific Ocean

Posted by Soulskill on from the unlucky-dolphin-has-really-bad-day dept.

astroengine sends word that the Russian cargo ship that spun out of control after launching on a mission to the ISS on April 28 has re-entered the atmosphere somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Orbital tracking indicated the re-entry took place at 2:20 UTC. Its orbital speed and location were not known with perfect precision, but any bits of the spacecraft that didn't burn up are believed to have landed in the ocean between 350 and 1,300 kilometers off the west coast of Chile.

According to Spaceflight 101, "The component with the highest probability of reaching the ground is the docking mechanism of the spacecraft as one of the most dense spacecraft systems. The docking system hosts an 80-centimeter hatch that is surrounded by the docking interface hosting the hooks and pressure seals facilitated on a massive metal ring. Overall, the system has a mass of 200 Kilograms much of which could reach the ground since the closed hatch would most likely not separate from the docking system and the unit will return mostly intact."

7 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. No I didn't! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ha ha still here! Good luck finding me now, suckers!

    - Progress M-27M

    1. Re:No I didn't! by MightyYar · · Score: 2

      While NASA has been known to launch astronauts directly from Walmart, they tend to favor people in slightly better shape. That's the standard hatch size, and was used even on the shuttle. The US side of the ISS does in fact use a larger, 50 inch (note the nice round-number imperial measurement) square hatch - but that was to accommodate the equipment racks that are used in the US-designed modules.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. Oceans on Earth by Ashenkase · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Are really, really big. Though the odds were in their favor Roscosmos dodged a bullet here.

    1. Re:Oceans on Earth by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Are really, really big. Though the odds were in their favor Roscosmos dodged a bullet here.

      Sounds more like a[n intercontinental] bullet dodged Chile.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Oceans on Earth by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

      Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts compared to space.

  3. "the unit will return mostly intact." by Isarian · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For *some* values of intact.

  4. Look like one of my Kerbal mission... by Eloking · · Score: 3, Funny

    .....actually, look like most of my Kerbal mission.....

    --
    Elok