Progress Vehicle, Shooting Star, Or...?

By Nancy Atkinson - November 1, 2011 at 1:38 PM UTC | Space Exploration

[/caption]

International Space Station Commander Mike Fossum captured this amazing view of the Progress M-10M cargo ship burning up in Earth's atmosphere after it undocked from the space station on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011. Via

Twitter, astronaut Chris Hadfield

-- who is scheduled to command the ISS next year -- said he received an email from Fossum about the picture, reminding him of a previous description Hadfield had given of what

exactly is

inside these departing cargo ships. It's a video we've shared before, but it's worth watching again.

Of course, the big news here is that the Progress M-10M

was

able to undock because of the

successful launch of the Progress 45

vehicle last Friday, setting the stage for allowing the Soyuz crew ships to start flying again, lessening the probability that the ISS will have to go unmanned. Stay tuned for updates on the launch of the station's next three residents, which is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2011.