Spaceship fragments may fall to earth

RUSSIA – The state news agency Sputnik has confirmed that a wayward unmanned cargo spaceship was to burn up upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere within a six-hour window on Friday(between 12:45 am and 6:36 am Moscow time).

Citing sources from the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Sputnik said that some fragments of the cargo ship that spun out of control upon launch last week may fall to earth, although the bulk of the ship was expected to completely disintegrate.

CNN reported that according to the US space agency NASA, the cargo ship was carrying more than three tons of food, fuel, oxygen, spare parts and scientific experiment hardware for the International Space Station.

In 1979, American’s first US space station Skylab fell to the earth with much fanfare and media coverage out of fear that big-enough fragments may hit populated areas.

In the hours before re-entry, ground controllers adjusted Skylab’s orientation to minimize the risk of fragments hitting populated areas. The debris landed southeast of Perth, Australia. -end-

Image by NASA