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Russian space freighter to be 'buried' in Pacific

RIA Novosti

09:1918/05/2009 MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Progress M-66 cargo spacecraft will reenter the Earth's atmosphere on Monday before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, Russia's Mission Control said.

The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on May 6 to become a temporary space lab.

During its automatic flight the craft was used to conduct a series of geophysical experiments under the Plasma-Progress program.

The Progress M-66 is one of the few remaining cargo spacecraft to be equipped with analogue control systems. The next generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.

The second of the modified spacecraft, Progress M-02M, is currently in orbit. It was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on May 8 and docked with the world's sole orbital station on May 12.

The new space freighter delivered 2.5 tons of cargo to the orbital station, including food and water supplies for the current crew, as well as fuel and scientific equipment.