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Damaged Progress MS-21 space freighter undocks from ISS — broadcast

The resupply vehicle is carrying some items that are no longer necessary aboard the orbital outpost and need to be disposed of

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Russia’s Progress MS-21 space freighter, where depressurization was reported on February 11, undocked from the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday, according to a live broadcast by Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos.

After the undocking, cosmonauts on board the ISS will manually turn the spacecraft to take photos of the presumably damaged spot on the outer surface.

The resupply vehicle is carrying some items that are no longer necessary aboard the orbital outpost and need to be disposed of.

The spacecraft will fire its engines for a deorbit burn at 07:03 Moscow time. A few hours after the undocking, the space freighter will burn in the atmosphere almost completely, and the remaining fragments will splash down in non-navigational areas of the Pacific Ocean.

A drop in pressure was detected aboard the Progress MS-21 space freighter on February 11. The spacecraft has been isolated from the ISS, but the space station’s crew continued their work as usual. Roscosmos said the causes of depressurization were being investigated.

Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov said on February 13 that an emergency commission had been set up, and it would look into all possible causes of the depressurization. On February 14, the presumed source of the leak was examined with the help of a remote-controlled robotic arm from the US segment of the ISS. The images that were obtained are now being studied.

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