SS042E101429 (01/05/2014) — This image, photographed by one of the Expedition 42 crew members aboard the International Space Station, shows the the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft on the left attached to the Rassvet module on the Earth-facing port of the Russian segment of the station that delivered Expedition 42 crewmembers Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Terry Virts of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency on Nov. 24, 2014 , and to the right, the unpiloted ISS Progress 57 cargo craft that is docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment and which arrived at the station a month earlier on Oct. 29, 2014.

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The Russian ISS Progress 57 cargo spacecraft separated from the International Space Station at 2:41 a.m. EDT while the spacecraft were flying 257 miles above northwestern China.

After its departure, the spacecraft will move away from the orbiting laboratory to a safe location where it will remain until commanded to reenter Earth’s atmosphere Sunday morning, April 26. The intense heat of reentry will cause the vehicle to burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

The departure of the Progress 57 vehicle clears the Pirs docking port for the arrival of the new ISS Progress 59 cargo ship. It will launch to the station at 3:09 a.m. Tuesday morning, April 28, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a resupply mission to deliver another two tons of provisions for the station crew members.

Quelle: NASA

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Saturday's Progress 57 Space Station Departure Paves the Way for new Russian Re-supply Mission