Progress Module specifications:

First launch to ISS: 2000

Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Launch vehicle: Soyuz rocket

Length: 7.4m

Diameter: 2.7m

Launch mass: 7,440kg

Cargo mass: 1,700kg

Length on orbit: six months

Return method: Destructive reentry

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

GLOSSARY OF SPACE TERMS

So what is a meteorite? How is it different from a meteor, comet or asteroid?

Asteroid

An asteroid is a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large numbers of these, ranging enormously in size, are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, called the “asteroid belt”.

Meteorite

A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and impact with the Earth’s surface or that of another planet.

When the object enters the Earth’s atmosphere, various factors like friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate that energy.

Comet

This celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust, when zipping around the sun, forms a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun. Comets are often referred to as “dirty snowballs,” left over from the formation of stars and planets billions of years ago.

Meteor

When the meteorite passes through the atmosphere, the meteorite becomes a meteor — forming a fireball, also known as a “shooting star” or “falling star”; astronomers call the brightest examples “bolides”.

Meteoroid

Nasa defines a meteoroid as a small chunk of rock or iron that travels through space.

Meteorite falls

Meteorites that survive atmospheric entry and impact vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create a crater. Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transit the atmosphere or impact the Earth are called meteorite falls. All others are known as meteorite finds.

Recent meteorite reports

February 15, 2013: More than 1,100 people were injured when a meteor the size of a bus and weighing an estimated 7,000 tons exploded over Russia

September 7, 2014: ‘Meteorite’ smashes into Nicaraguan capital

February 9, 2016: Indian authorities said a falling object that killed a bus driver and injured three others in Chennai, India, was a meteorite.

April 19, 2017: A large asteroid as big as the Rock of Gibraltar had an uncomfortably close but safe encounter with the Earth, according to astronomers.

As of April 2016, there were about 1,140 witnessed falls that have specimens in the world’s collections. There are more than 38,660 well-documented meteorite finds.

September 1, 2017: Nasa tracked the Asteroid Florence as it passed Earth. Scientists also found two small moons orbiting the Asteroid Florence.