Update: Russian Spacecraft To Crash Friday

Russian space agency Roscosmos believes some fragments of its out of control spaceship may hit Earth on Friday.

It claims most of the Progress spaceship will burn up in the atmosphere, as is the case with all space cargo carriers once they have delivered their shipments to the ISS.

But there is a chance some small parts will crash on to land – although no one knows where or when these fragments will hit.

Russian space agency Roscosmos says some fragments of its out of control spaceship may hit Earth on Friday. Nasa reported that a video camera on Progress showed it to be spinning at a ‘rather significant rate’

WHAT WENT WRONG?

‘Almost immediately after spacecraft separation, a series of telemetry problems were detected with the Progress 59,’ Nasa spokesperson Rob Navias said during a televised broadcast from Mission Control.

Orbital parameters were due to be sent from a Russian Ground Site, allowing for a eight ‘rendevous burns’ to be performed over the next five hours of flight.

But, once Progress had arrived on orbit, only confirmation of its solar array deployment and some of the navigational antennas were made.

Meanwhile, Nasa’s Mission Control reported that a video camera on Progress showed it to be spinning at a ‘rather significant rate.’

The Progress spaceship was launched on April 28, but entered the wrong orbit and went into an uncontrollable spin.

Russian flight controllers have since been unable to regain command of the wayward ship, which is carrying three tons of supplies to the ISS.

‘The space ship will completely burn up in the layers of the atmosphere and only a few small parts of elements of its construction could reach the surface of our planet,’ the space agency said.

While some have claimed that citizens are at risk of being struck by pieces of the ship, CBS News space consultant, William harwood, said the chances were ‘very close to zero.’

Russian ballistics experts are now working with Nasa and Esa to track the craft’s path. But the event isn’t as rare as believed, according to Nasa.

‘Several hundred objects with more than 200 metric tons are tracked in space as they reenter each year,’ a spokesperson for Nasa told DailyMail.com.

‘About every week, a rocket body or spacecraft re-enters. Typically, objects with a mass of at least four metric tons re-enter uncontrolled at least once per year.’

Original Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3070611/Look-Friday-Parts-Russia-s-control-spacecraft-come-crashing-Earth-no-one-knows-hit.html#ixzz3ZS1bemZa