MOSCOW (Interfax-AVN) — The Russian cargo
spacecraft Progress M-62 left the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday.
"The
undocking of the Progress spacecraft M-62 proceeded without accidents,"
Flight Control in Korolyov, Moscow region, told Interfax.
The cargo
ship, also known as Progress 27, has been docked to the ISS since December 26,
2007.
Flight Control Center spokesman Valery Lyndin said that
the spacecraft will launch into an autonomous flight for two weeks after the
undocking. With its assistance, Russian scientists will conduct the
Plasma-Progress test similar to the test conducted on the cargo spacecraft
Progress M-60 last fall.
In the
second half of February, Progress M-60 will be dumped into the so-called Spacecraft Cemetery in the Pacific Ocean, 3,000 kilometers from New Zealand.
Before
undocking, the ISS crew including Russian astronaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA
astronauts Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani loaded the spacecraft with waste and
used equipment, while stripping the craft of all expensive equipment that will
be taken to Earth either on the U.S. shuttle or on Russian's piloted spacecraft
Soyuz.
"Progress
M-62 has made out space for the next spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur on
February 5, at 4 p.m. Moscow time.
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