2 Aug 2004

Russian space station dumps waste on Pacific

1:48 pm on 2 August 2004

Russia has burnt rubbish from the International Space Station as the cargo module was sent to earth over the Pacific Ocean.

News agencies report most of the cargo module burnt up on re-entry, but some fragments fell into a designated area of the sea, along the 40th parallel between New Zealand and South America.

A spokeswoman for Russian mission control, Olga Soshnikova, described the operation as a routine dumping operation early on Saturday morning.

The Progress craft had docked with the space station to provide food, water, equipment and other supplies.

It's reported the cargo was jettisoned because it would have got in the way of a planned space walk this week, involving a Russian cosmonaut, Gennady Padalka, and an American astronaut, Michael Fincke.