Posted: Thu, Oct 4, 2012, 8:32 AM ET (1232 GMT)
A European cargo spacecraft reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up early Wednesday. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) 3 spacecraft, also known as Edoardo Amaldi, deorbited and burned up over the southern Pacific Ocean at 9:30 pm EDT Tuesday (0130 GMT Wednesday). The spacecraft was carrying garbage from the International Space Station as well as a data recorder designed to collect data on conditions during reentry. The spacecraft, launched in March, undocked from the International Space Station on Friday, three days later than planned because of a computer glitch during the original undocking attempt.
