Russia docks new science module to the International Space Station

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Russia has just flown a new science module, called Nauka, to the International Space Station.
Nauka is 14 years late, but it is bringing new science facilities and additional space for Russian cosmonauts.
After a week in orbit around Earth, Nauka docked with the ISS on Thursday morning.

Russia has finally delivered a long-awaited science module to the International Space Station.

The new module, a 43-foot-long cylinder called Nauka (meaning “science” in Russian), approached the ISS on Thursday morning. The spacecraft moved slowly, lining up exactly with the port of the ISS waiting to receive it. Its docking system encountered the port at 9:29 a.m. ET and locked into place, forming a seal so cosmonauts could open the hatch and gain access to their new facilities.

Nauka gives the Russian part of the ISS expanded science facilities, crew quarters and a new airlock for spacewalks. It also has a new docking port for Russian spacecraft.

The module was originally scheduled to launch in 2007, but technical issues and unexpected repairs resulted in years of delay.

“This is a very difficult and important victory for us,” said the director general of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. Twitter after docking.

NASA broadcast live images of Nauka docked with the ISS on Thursday morning. Watch the video below.

However, the new module is not yet fully integrated with the ISS. Cosmonauts will need to perform around 11 spacewalks to install electronics outside the module, according to Spaceflight Now.

Old Russian module burned in Earth’s atmosphere

To clear a port for Nauka, the 20-year-old Russian docking station Pirs detached from the ISS on Saturday. Pirs first arrived at the space station in 2001, and it served as a receiving station for Progress capsules carrying cargo and Soyuz spacecraft carrying astronauts.

russian progress spacecraft docked at the international space station — A Russian Progress freighter, docked at the Pirs docking compartment on the Russian segment of the International Space Station on June 2, 2021.

After Pirs undocked, a Progress spacecraft towed it into Earth’s atmosphere. When gravity dragged the old module down, most of it burned in the atmosphere. The parts that survived fell into the Pacific Ocean.

Nauka had problems mid-flight en route to the ISS

The proton m rocket fires engines from the launch pad carrying the nauka module — A Proton-M rocket carrying the Nauka module takes off from the launch pad of the Russian space facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, July 21, 2021.

Nauka, also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), did not have a smooth journey to the ISS.

Shortly after launching on July 21, Nauka began to malfunction. He didn’t complete the first combustion of the engine that was supposed to push him into a higher orbit above Earth. The module had to gain altitude so that gravity did not drag it into the atmosphere, where it would burn. The Russian mission controllers therefore asked the module to trigger its emergency thrusters to push itself higher.

The man in a white coat stands in front of the opening of the port of the nauka module in the laboratory room — A specialist from the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center works on preparations for the Nauka module, July 31, 2020.

Over the next few days, Nauka fired his thrusters several times to move in the correct orbital path. These “corrective maneuvers” put him on the right track to reach the ISS.

This article has been updated with new information. It was originally released on July 28, 2021.

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