Russian space freighter undocks from ISS

MOSCOW, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A Russian cargo spaceship undocked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday and started a five-day autonomous flight, said the Mission Control Center outside Moscow.

The Russian space freighter Progress M-03M loaded with refuse collected aboard the ISS undocked with the Pirs docking module at around 08:29 p.m. Moscow time (1629 GMT), said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Mission Control Center.

The whole process took approximately three minutes, he added.

During the next five days of autonomous flight, Progress M-03M would serve as a research laboratory to conduct a series of experiments, before plunging into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 27.

Progress M-03M as the third Russian advanced spacecraft equipped with a modern digital control system, blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last Oct. 15, delivering some 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, equipment and personal stuffs for astronauts.

After its departure, three other spacecraft, including Soyuz TMA-17, Soyuz TMA-18 and Progress M-04M remained docked with the ISS.