Unmanned ISS rocket flames out

An unmanned Russian cargo space ship crashed Thursday en route to the International Space Station due to an unspecified malfunction.

The Progress MS-04 cargo craft crashed at an altitude of 118 miles over the remote Russian Tyva region that borders Mongolia, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said in a statement.

Most of the spaceship’s debris burnt up as it entered the atmosphere.

Roscosmos said the craft was operating normally before it stopped transmitting data 383 seconds after blasting off from a launch complex in Kazakhstan.

Both Roscosmos and NASA said the crash of the ship, which was ferrying a supply of fuel, would have no impact on the operations of the orbiting lab, which is currently housing a sixmember crew, including three cosmonauts, two NASA astronauts and one European Union flier.