In this Dec. 9, 2016, file photo made available by NASA via Twitter, a Cygnus spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. A similar Cygnus spacecraft is set to burn up over the Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, June 22, 2016.
Scott Kelly/NASA via AP, File
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A large Cygnus cargo ship filled with Space Station trash that was released from the station last week is set to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand about 9:20 eastern time Wednesday morning and disintegrate.
NASA conducted an experiment aboard a doomed freighter last week. After the ship safely left the station, NASA says a large fire was intentionally set aboard the vessel.
The space agency says scientists are looking to explore how fire behaves in microgravity in an effort to design safer spacecraft.
Space contractor Orbital ATK plans to send another Cygnus craft to the Space Station on a resupply mission next month.
!['It's very inspiring to see how these [hair-like] structures occur in nature and how they can achieve different functions,' says Jifei Ou, a graduate student in media arts and sciences at MIT. 'We're just trying to think how can we fully utilize the potential of 3-D printing, and create new functional materials whose properties are easily tunable and controllable.' Pictured is an example of 3-D printed hair.](https://img.ien.com/files/base/indm/ien/image/2016/06/3d_printed_hair.576815a452cbf.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&rect=0%2C0%2C950%2C533&w=250)
