Pirs DC1 Module Re-enters Earth’s Atmosphere

Thomas Pesquet : So long DC1! ? After almost twenty years of service, instead of getting a medal , one of the Space Station’s oldest modules got a little trip through the atmosphere.
Check these pics: it’s not every day that you see a piece of the Station being taken away. We pitched the International Space Station 90 degrees, and so we flew belly first, to help out with the manoeuver.

Pyotr and myself tried to capture some photos and videos of this important moment in the Station’s history. Quite a strange feeling to see a part of your ship fly away in mid-air (so to speak – no atmosphere here duh). A couple of hours later and we had front row seat to the fireball that was going to be DC1’s last act. ?We clearly saw smaller pieces float away from the main fireworks, as the ship was being destructed by the heat of atmospheric friction. Quite the show!

Encore un départ de cargo, le Progress russe, mais avec une nouveauté de taille : accroché au véhicule, un petit bout de station est carrément parti en même temps, et ce n’est pas tous les jours que ça arrive ! C’était le module DC1, qui nous a quitté après vingt ans de bons et loyaux services. ? On a penché la Station de 90° pour faciliter l’opération. Quelques heures après, on était aux premières loges pour observer le finish en ☄️ (destruction du véhicule en rentrant dans l’atmosphère, brûlé sous l’effet de la friction).

Credits: ESA/NASA-T. Pesquet larger image