MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The debris from the transport cargo spacecraft, Progress M-22M, which did not burn up in the atmosphere after its descent from orbit, fell into the Pacific Ocean, a source in the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
"The debris reached the surface of the ocean," the source said.
The freighter's burial site is far from navigation routes, within approximately 3,000 kilometers east of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, so the unburned debris are not dangerous for navigation. Nor will such a disposal harm the environment as only a small number of spacecraft parts will reach the water.
The Progress M-22M undocked from the ISS on April 7. Russia's Radar-Progress scientific experiment involves a ground survey of several characteristics of the ionosphere during the operation of the Progress freighter's on-board engines.
The experiment aims to determine the spatial-temporal dependences of density, temperature, ionic composition of the local inhomogeneities of the ionosphere which occur as a result of operation of on-board liquid-propellants engines.
The experiment is conducted with the use of the Progress engine unit and the VHF radio equipment, as well as a set of ground radio monitoring systems.
It was reported earlier that on February 6, 2014 the Progress M-22M delivered nearly 2.4 tonnes of various supplies for the ISS and crew, including fuel and research equipment for the Station, oxygen, water, clothes and foodstuffs for the space crew. The cargo ship also delivered parcels from their families and presents for the crew. Apart from standard rations, the crew members received their usual portion of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as chocolate and other sweets from psychologists and families.