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Unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft is falling to Earth

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Progress M-27M vessel, which was carrying supplies to the International Space Station, is said to be out of control

 Updated 
Wed 29 Apr 2015 12.09 EDTFirst published on Wed 29 Apr 2015 07.10 EDT
Nasa footage shows the unmanned Russian spacecraft spinning out of control above Earth Guardian

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Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) head Igor Komarov speaks during a press conference on Progress 59. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

The Russian space agency has conceded its out-of-control cargo spacecraft will not be able to dock with the International Space Station.

Roscosmos admitted the Progress 59 freighter’s failed mission will cost 2.59 billion roubles (£32.8 million), a spokesman for the agency said.

Igor Komarov, head of Roscosmos, listed a series of problems that had made the vessel tumble out of control since early on Tuesday, Reuters reported. He said:

Because of this, the craft’s continued flight and its docking with the ISS is not possible.

Here’s what else we learned throughout the day:

  • Progress 59 launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday without issue
  • The spacecraft is 7m long and holds 2.5 tonnes of food, water, fuel and other supplies
  • The vessel malfunctioned soon after it reached orbit on Tuesday and went into an uncontrolled spin.
  • It is rotating at a rate of 360 degrees every five seconds
  • The spacecraft is travelling at more than 16,000 miles per hour.
  • The vessel is 160 miles above the Earth.
  • It could take up to two weeks for Progress 59 to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, at which point it is expected to break up.
  • You can follow Progress 59 using satellite tracking websites Satflare and N2YO.
  • Igor Komarov, head of Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, says they are now considering different options for a “water landing”.

My colleagues Ian Sample and Shaun Walker have filed this report.

In light of information that Progress 59 could be orbiting the Earth for up to two weeks, we have decided to close the live blog. I’ll leave you with this clip from Alfonso Cuaron’s Oscar-winning thriller Gravity to serve as a reminder that the spacecraft was thankfully unmanned.

Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly on December 18 2014 in Paris. Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images

Astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, current crew members on board the International Space Station, have said flight controllers have given up trying to command the out-of-control cargo carrier.

Kelly told the Associated Press that the craft will fall out of orbit and re-enter the atmosphere sometime soon. He said:

We should be OK.The program plans for these kinds of things to happen. They’re very unfortunate when they do. The important thing is hardware can be replaced.

Kornienko called it “a big concern.” But he expressed “100 percent confidence” that operations will continue as planned until the next shipment arrives.

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Russian space agency working on "water landing" for plunging spacecraft

Shaun Walker
Shaun Walker

Our Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker says representatives of Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, are holding a press briefing in the Russian capital. We’re waiting for further details on who is speaking but we have these initial remarks from one of the representatives:

It’s impossible to say who or what is responsible for this at this point. There will be a state commission which will meet to discuss all the issues around further launches. The next launch is due on 26 May.

And Igor Komarov, head of Roskosmos, was quoted by agency LifeNews as saying:

A safe docking with the ISS is not possible. We are working out different options for a water landing.

Ian Sample
Ian Sample

My colleague Ian Sample has more from ESA director Thomas Reiter.

Reiter said he had instructed the space agency’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, to track the spacecraft so that teams can predict when and where the spacecraft will come down if it cannot be rescued.

The spacecraft is 160 miles high and travelling at more than 16,000mph. That altitude is sufficiently below the space station to pose the crew no problems, but some satellites might need to take evasive manoeuvres. Such moves were becoming ever more necessary in space, said Reiter.

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Nasa has just issued this brief update:

Docking has been called off for the Progress 59 spacecraft. Russian flight controllers are continuing to assess the vehicle and what the plan going forward will be. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

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Jamie Grierson
Jamie Grierson

So there’s a distinct possibility the Progress 59 spacecraft could be orbiting Earth for more than a week.

I’m starting to wonder if I’m on course to set a new live-blogging record.

Send coffee and a sleeping bag to Guardian HQ.

My colleague Ian Sample has more from ESA director of human spaceflight and operations Thomas Reiter. The former astronaut says:

Re-entry is normally done over the south Pacific in order to avoid any debris falling on firm terrain.

Not everything will burn up and if it’s an uncontrolled entry then there will be fragments that will hit the surface.

If my colleagues can’t get it under control, that could be within a week, maybe one and a half weeks at most.

Progress 59 could orbit the Earth for up to week and a half – ESA

Ian Sample
Ian Sample

Thomas Reiter, director of human spaceflight and operations at the European Space Agency, just told me that if the Russians cannot regain control over the spacecraft, it could be up there for a week and a half max.

Normally, these vessels are jettisoned on controlled re-entry paths over the south Pacific, so that any fragments that survive burnup land in the ocean. This would be an uncontrolled re-entry, so some pieces could make it to land.

But the danger to people is very slim. More than two-thirds of Earth are covered in water and only about 3% of the land is occupied by urban areas.

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Progress 59 spacecraft passes over England and London

ISS Progress 47 docked at the International Space Station. Photograph: NASA/REX Shutterstock

An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft plunging back to Earth and apparently out of control has passed over southern England. Here’s what we know so far:

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James Ball
James Ball

My colleague James Ball has found this interesting article looking at the odds of getting struck by a falling satellite.

The odds someone will be hit by the falling Russian spacecraft (if it doesn't totally burn up): 1 in 3,200 – http://t.co/J3niuWD3D1

— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) April 29, 2015

The odds *you* will be hit by the falling Russian spacecraft, incidentally, are nearer 1 in 2.2 trillion. So don't worry too much.

— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) April 29, 2015
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More on this story

More on this story

  • Russia's Progress cargo spacecraft set to crash to Earth

  • Falling to Earth: unmanned Russian spacecraft ‘has nowhere else to go’

  • Russia's Progress spacecraft had problem-free launch - video

  • Russia's Progress spacecraft in slow spin above Earth – video

  • Lost in space: Russia tries to contact Progress spacecraft on ISS mission

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