MOSCOW. June 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian resupply spacecraft Progress M-02M is due to undock from the International Space Station on Tuesday with a load of waste and scrapped equipment and then embark on a flight that will result in it being sunk in the Pacific, the Moscow mission control said.
The spacecraft will keep flying for a few weeks before it is sunk in the so-called Spacecraft Cemetery, a southern Pacific area where spacecraft are routinely disposed of, a mission control spokesman told Interfax-AVN.
Progress M-02M is part of a new series of spacecraft, which are still undergoing in-flight tests. The mission control will be testing Progress M-02M's systems before the craft comes to a minimal distance of the ISS without docking with it.
"Probably, the spacecraft will be brought out of orbit the same day," the spokesman said.