Nauka finally docks with ISS
The configuration of the Russian portion of ISS with
Nauka and the as-yet launched docking hub.
This morning the new fullsize module to ISS, Nauka, finally docked with the station, ending a week of tension because of issues with its engines.
The docking was not without issue, with Russian cosmonauts noting that Nauka wasn’t on the correct course less than an hour before docking; however, a retro burn quickly corrected the issue. After also troubleshooting an issue with the TORU manual docking system, Nauka successfully docked in automated fashion to the Zvezda service module’s nadir port at 09:29 EDT / 13:29 UTC, marking the first major expansion to the Russian segment for over 20 years.
They will now begin a series of eleven spacewalks to outfit the module. This includes installing a new European-built robot arm and transferring an airlock and radiator on a different module that were originally built to be attached to Nauka and have been waiting eleven years for its much delayed arrival.
In November Russia will then launch a small docking hub module that will dock with Nauka and provide the docking ports that were lost when the Piers module was detached earlier this week (thus allowing Nauka to dock). This new docking hub is also critical, because it will allow Russia to limit dockings to the aft port on Zvezda, which has serious structural stress issues and must be treated gently to prevent further hull cracks and air leaks.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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The configuration of the Russian portion of ISS with
Nauka and the as-yet launched docking hub.
This morning the new fullsize module to ISS, Nauka, finally docked with the station, ending a week of tension because of issues with its engines.
The docking was not without issue, with Russian cosmonauts noting that Nauka wasn’t on the correct course less than an hour before docking; however, a retro burn quickly corrected the issue. After also troubleshooting an issue with the TORU manual docking system, Nauka successfully docked in automated fashion to the Zvezda service module’s nadir port at 09:29 EDT / 13:29 UTC, marking the first major expansion to the Russian segment for over 20 years.
They will now begin a series of eleven spacewalks to outfit the module. This includes installing a new European-built robot arm and transferring an airlock and radiator on a different module that were originally built to be attached to Nauka and have been waiting eleven years for its much delayed arrival.
In November Russia will then launch a small docking hub module that will dock with Nauka and provide the docking ports that were lost when the Piers module was detached earlier this week (thus allowing Nauka to dock). This new docking hub is also critical, because it will allow Russia to limit dockings to the aft port on Zvezda, which has serious structural stress issues and must be treated gently to prevent further hull cracks and air leaks.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“The docking was not without issue”
I’d say. I watched it and it looked more like a slow collision than a proper docking. The whole station shook.
If I was in charge, I’d immediately get the entire crew to perform leak and crack checks on all modules.
Wow — just learned that Nauka’s RCS fired at random 2hr ago. Why isn’t safing the propulsion system the first item on the post-dock checklist??
According to Eric Berger of Ars Technica, this scared NASA enough that they are postponing the Starliner visit until they figure out what happened. At least Boeing can blame someone else this time…
V-Man: Thank you for noting this. I was too busy writing the Perseverance/Ingenuity story and didn’t know. Now posted.
The Docking Module (UM) Is a hugely important piece of the RUssian segment. Everything revolves around that module.
Future modules will dock to it. Soyuz/Progress.
When the ISS is deorbited, they intend to keep Nauka and the UM and maybe ditch Nauka and build a stand alone station out of it.
Very cool. But this Nauka is not insprining confidence right now.
V-Man,
You are right, that was a bit of a hard docking. I watched it this morning and heard they switched over from KURS to TORU. That is going from an automated docking to a manual docking via remote control. I saw the panels oscillating after that docking.
I’m surprised no one has made a joke about the “15 year service life” badge on the picture. Kind of reminds me of a car commercial.