Russia's Spaceship Debris Splashes Down Into Pacific Ocean

The Russian space cargo ship Progress M-08M left orbit and fell into the Pacific Monday after three month of work at the International Space Station (ISS), reported the Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

"As calculated by Mission Control ballistics experts, the Progress M-08M's debris, which did not burn up in the thick layers of the atmosphere, fell into the southern part of the Pacific Ocean far away from navigation routes at 09:07 a.m. Moscow time (0607GMT)," a Mission Control spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The Progress undocked from the Russian module Pirs first and then left the orbit, the control center said.

The cargo ship's place at the ISS will be taken by the Progress M-09M, which is scheduled to blast off from the Baikonur space center on Jan. 28.

The Progress M-08M, launched on Oct. 27, 2010, on a Soyuz-U carrier rocket, reached the ISS in three days carrying 2.5 tons of cargo.