Russian space agency finds debris of failed space vehicle

Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday the debris found a day earlier in Altai Republic in southern Siberia were from the failed cargo spaceship Progress. "Experts have confirmed the burnt remnants of cables and aluminum container were parts of the Progress," Interfax news agency quoted Roscosmos official Dmitry Gurov as saying. The Progress M-12M, which was launched on Aug. 24, failed to reach the International Space Station (ISS) and fell back to Earth along with the Soyuz-U carrier rocket's third stage. The abortive launch was Progress' first failure since it came into service in 1978. The search for debris has been underway since its crash. Wednesday's find would help the retrieval team narrow its search area, Gurov said.