The mission in orbit of the Progress MS-15 transport cargo vehicle, which lasted 201 days, is coming to an end. In accordance with the Russian flight program of the International Space Station, on the morning of February 9, 2021 at 08:21:30 Moscow time, the Progress MS-15 cargo vehicle undocked from the Pirs module of the International Space Station in the normal mode.
The hatches between the Russian “space truck” and the ISS were closed on February 8, 2021 at 13:40 Moscow time. On February 9, at 08:20 Moscow time, after the completion of operations to prepare for undocking, a command was issued to open the hooks of the Progress MS-15 spacecraft, it was undocked from the station and sent to “free sail”. After the spacecraft was withdrawn to a safe distance from the station, the specialists of the TsNIIMash Mission Control Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) began the controlled de-launching of the spacecraft from near-earth orbit.
According to the calculations of the station’s ballistic support service, the engines of the Progress MS-15 transport vehicle will be switched on at 11:30:11 Moscow time and, having worked out the prescribed braking impulse, will transfer the ship to the descent to the planet. At 12:13:08 Moscow time, non-combustible elements of its structure will fall in the calculated zone of the non-navigable region of the Pacific Ocean. The estimated area of the fall of unburned fragments of the ship is located approximately 1,680 km east of Wellington (New Zealand). Roscosmos State Corporation has completed all the necessary procedures to establish this area as temporarily dangerous for sea navigation and aircraft flights.
The Progress MS-15 cargo vehicle has been in the Russian segment of the International Space Station since July 23, 2020. Its launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome took place on July 23 at 17:26:21 Moscow time, and 3 hours 18 minutes 31 seconds after the launch, it docked to the Pirs docking compartment. Thus, the Progress MS-15 cargo vehicle set a new record for the flight time to the ISS. The Space Truck delivered cargoes with a total mass of more than 2.5 tons to the ISS, which are necessary to maintain the ISS flight in a manned mode and implement the program of scientific and applied research on board.