Posted: Wed, Mar 28, 2007, 8:24 AM ET (1224 GMT)
A Progress cargo spacecraft that had been at the ISS for nearly half a year undocked from the station and burned up in the atmosphere on Tuesday. The Progress M-58 spacecraft (called Progress 23 by NASA) undocked from the Zvezda module of the ISS shortly after 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT) Tuesday and maneuvered away from the station. It later fired its thrusters for a deorbiting maneuver and reentered over the South Pacific Ocean at approximately 7:20 pm EDT (2320 GMT). The spacecraft, which arrived at the ISS last October, was filled with garbage prior to its undocking. With the Progress spacecraft now gone, the ISS crew will board the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft on Thursday to move it from its current docking location on the Zarya module to the Zvezda module, freeing up the Zarya docking port for the next Soyuz mission, scheduled to arrive at the ISS early next month.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  SPACE.com article
•  Itar-Tass article