A video from the spacecraft spinning out of control.
AN UNMANNED RUSSIA cargo spacecraft ferrying supplies to the International Space Station is plunging back to Earth and apparently out of control, an official told AFP.
“It has started descending. It has nowhere else to go,” an official familiar with the situation said on condition of anonymity, speaking ahead of an official Russian space agency statement expected later in the day.
It is clear that absolutely uncontrollable reactions have begun.
Attempts to contact the unmanned Progress spacecraft have so far been unsuccessful.
A Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress M-27M spacecraft with supplies for the International Space Station successfully launched on Tuesday but communication with the vessel was lost soon afterwards.
The controllers had opted to change the flight plan and extend the vessel’s journey to two days instead of six hours in a bid to fix the glitch.
The ship had been scheduled to dock with the ISS, where the international crew of six people is awaiting the cargo, on April 30.
The next delivery to the ISS is planned by SpaceX’s Dragon cargo ship on June 19.
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