MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Progress M-67 cargo spacecraft will undock on Monday from the International Space Station (ISS) to become a temporary space lab before being "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Mission Control said.
Progress M-67, the last Russian cargo spacecraft with analogue control system, arrived at the orbital station on July 29, bringing 2.5 tons of supplies to the ISS, including fuel, water, and various equipment.
During its ensuing automatic flight, to last until September 27, the craft will be used as an orbital laboratory to conduct a series of geophysical experiments under the Plasma-Progress program.
It will then reenter the Earth's atmosphere before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific.
Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they were used for adjusting the ISS orbit and conducting scientific experiments.
The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.
