MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Progress M-24M resupply ship undocked from the Pirs module of the International Space Station (ISS) Russian segment on Monday on the orders from the Russian Mission Control Center based in Korolyov, Moscow region.
"The ship will be autonomous until November 20; it will be taking part in the Reflection experiment," a center representative told Interfax-AVN.
The ship will be de-orbited and fall in the Pacific in an area known as "the spaceship cemetery" on November 20.
The next resupply ship, Progress M-29M, will be launched on October 29 to replace the departed vehicle.
Resupply ships Progress M-61, Progress M-65, Progress M-04M and Progress M-05M had been a part of the Reflection experiment before they left orbit and also fell into the ocean.
ISS Russian flight supervisor Vladimir Solovyov said earlier the experiment was testing the possibility of optical signal spreading for studying alterations in the Earth's atmosphere. "One of our experiments, Reflection, looks at the Earth atmosphere and its processes using a television camera set at different angles from the Sun," he said.
A Soyuz-U LV carrying Progress M-24M blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 1:44 a.m. Moscow time on July 24. The resupply ship docked with the Pirs unit of the ISS Russian segment at 7:31 a.m.
Progress M-24M delivered 2,322 kilograms of various cargo, including fuel, air, food, scientific equipment and packages for ISS crewmembers, to the station.