January 6, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
Readers!
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Your support is even more essential to me because I keep this site free from advertisements and do not participate in corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Your support is even more essential to me because I keep this site free from advertisements and do not participate in corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Bob,
I have a more accurate count on the number of dockings to the aft port of Zvezda: 35 by Progress, 5 for ESA’s ATV and 59 Soyuz missions. I would say that a grand total of 99 dockings, but with the failure of docking Soyuz MS-14 on the Poisk module, they moved MS-13 to the Poisk port to allow MS-14 to use the KURS to dock in the aft. So the total known number of dockings to the aft module is 100.
That port has been used a lot!
Jay: Whoa! That is most illuminating. Thank you. I fear that stress is a factor here, and that the “equipment” the Russians are sending to ISS to fix the problem might involve some major repairwork. The Russians proved themselves very adapt at this with Mir, so there is no reason to lose hope.
Still, the situation is worrisome, as I am sure the Russians know.
So I am willing to bet there have been many more dockings to that port. When ESA launched their first ATV, I bet they did multiple dockings to test the mechanisms. Also were multiple docking tests done on the four variants of the Soyuz that visited the station: TM, TMA, TMA-M, and MS.
Probably a call to Houston can give you the real number.