MOSCOW, July 26 (UPI) -- Fragments of Russia's Progress M-18M spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Friday after the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, officials said.
The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station shortly after midnight Moscow time and started its final journey toward a remote location in the Pacific Ocean dubbed the "spacecraft cemetery," a spokesman for the Russian mission control center told RIA Novosti.
"At 4:42 Moscow time [7:42 p.m. EDT Thursday], fragments of the space freighter fell in the Pacific Ocean approximately 4,000 kilometers [2,500 miles] from New Zealand's capital, Wellington," the spokesman said.
The next Russian cargo spacecraft to the ISS, Progress M-20M, is set to launch toward the ISS at 3:45 p.m. EDT Saturday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
