In article om,
says...

On 15-04-29 06:04, Jeff Findley wrote:

No new news that I can see so far this morning.

I'll have to do more research to get some hard facts instead of reporter
digested text, but this seems pretty much hard to fail reporting:

Out-of-control Russian spacecraft declared a total loss
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ou...loss-1.3053356

Space.Com does provide a few details.

All went well until after solar array were deployed . Apparently, some
antennas did not deploy.

But there is video from the spacecract indicating it is spinning (which
means that some sort of radio link did continue to function (and
surprising that the video could be donwlinked considering spacecraft
rotation and antenna contantly pointing at different location.

In a situation where Progress loses comms with earth, does it have
enough smarts to stabilize itself and continue the mission ? Or does it
require ground send commands to actuvate various phases of flight ?

Do we know if the Progress performed its second and subsequent burns to
circulatize its orbit ?

Recent reports say no confirmed burns performed by Progress.
Furthermore, there is apparently no fuel left and a debris field being
tracked.

If not, how long before it creates nice fireworks in the sky as it falls
back down ?

It will reenter in a matter of days. It's a total loss.

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer