The expert told why "Nauka" has only one attempt to dock with the ISS.

FKR member Alexander Khokhlov told why the Nauka module has only one attempt to dock with the ISS

03:41 28.07.2021

MOSCOW, July 28 - RIA Novosti. The multipurpose laboratory module "Science" can have only one attempt to dock with the International Space Station (ISS), since part of the fuel due to an emergency situation turned out to be unusable, Alexander Khokhlov, a member of the North-West organization of the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics, told RIA Novosti.

The Nauka module was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on July 21 by the Proton-M carrier rocket ; its docking with the ISS is scheduled for July 29.

"Nauka can only have one attempt to dock with the ISS. The fact is that due to an abnormal situation in the propulsion system of the module, part of the fuel mixed with gas and became unusable," Khokhlov said.

In this regard, according to him, "Nauka" may not have enough fuel for a repeated attempt to dock with the ISS, if the module fails to dock to the station the first time.

At present, Khokhlov added, the propulsion system continues to perform the task of correcting the Nauka's orbit to bring it to the station. In addition, he said, the module successfully tested the main automatic ("Course") and backup manual (TORU) systems required for rendezvous and docking with the ISS.

Earlier, Khokhlov told RIA Novosti that several emergency situations arose on the Nauka module during its flight to the ISS, but Russian specialists managed to cope with most of them.

Nauka began to be built in 1995 as a ground backup for the first module of the ISS Zarya. In 2004, it was decided to save money on the creation of a new compartment for the Russian segment of the station and to convert the "backup" into a full-fledged flight module. Its launch was originally planned for 2007, but was postponed for a total of 14 years due to financial and technical reasons.

In "Science" there is a sleeping place for an astronaut, a toilet, systems for the regeneration of oxygen from water and water from urine, workplaces for conducting experiments. It is also equipped with an airlock for carrying out the scientific equipment outside the station and the European remote manipulator ERA.

 
ESA confirms problems with Science module during flight to ISS

14:10 07/28/2021

MOSCOW, July 28 - RIA Novosti. Several problems arose on the Russian multipurpose laboratory module Nauka during the flight to the International Space Station (ISS), but now everything is normal, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

The Nauka module was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on July 21 by the Proton-M carrier rocket and is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Thursday, July 29.

Earlier, Alexander Khokhlov, a member of the North-West organization of the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics, told RIA Novosti that several emergency situations occurred on the Nauka during the flight to the station, but Russian specialists managed to cope with most of them.

ccording to him, among the problems were: comments on the operation of the sensors of the infrared vertical, the antenna of the Kurs rendezvous system that did not open at first, the test of the Kurs system itself, which was not carried out the first time, and a "severe emergency" with the propulsion system.

Meanwhile, Roskosmos reported about Nauka's regular orbit corrections and a successful test of the Kurs rendezvous system. According to the state corporation, the next correction of the module's orbit is scheduled for Wednesday.

The ESA website reports. that shortly after the deployment of solar panels and antennas of the module, "the Mission Control Center ( MCC ) near Moscow was informed about the loss of telemetry (from Nauka)."

"The failure was recorded when the module did not perform the first start of the engine, aimed at raising its orbit," the message says.

The space agency noted that throughout the week, engineers were busy conducting critical tests of the propulsion system and correcting the Nauka's orbit.

"Uncertainty has intensified by troubleshooting the Kurs rendezvous system on the Nauka," the message says.

Nevertheless, according to ESA, "the restless days at the MCC culminated last Sunday with the guarantee that the module will be able to reach the station, relying on its own power and navigation systems."

The space agency noted that the docking of Nauka with the ISS is scheduled for Thursday at 16.25 Moscow time.

Nauka began to be built in 1995 as a ground backup for the first module of the ISS Zarya. In 2004, it was decided to save money on the creation of a new compartment for the Russian segment of the station and to convert the "backup" into a full-fledged flight module. Its launch was originally planned for 2007, but was postponed for a total of 14 years due to financial and technical reasons.

In "Science" there is a sleeping place for an astronaut, a toilet, systems for the regeneration of oxygen from water and water from urine, workplaces for conducting experiments. It is also equipped with an airlock for carrying out the scientific equipment outside the station and the European remote manipulator ERA.

 
Module "Science" successfully docked with the ISS

16:29 29 July 2021

The Nauka multifunctional laboratory module has successfully docked with the Zvezda module of the ISS Russian Segment. After the launch, the module ran into technical problems, including malfunctions in the propulsion system, but Roscosmos specialists were able to fix them. As part of the ISS, the module will be used to conduct scientific experiments and ensure the operation of the station. The docking was broadcast on the YouTube channels of Roscosmos and NASA , as well as in our text online .

Nauka is the first new module of the ISS Russian Segment in 11 years. It was planned to launch back in 2007, but due to technical problems, the launch took place only in 2021. The main problem faced by engineers on Earth is metal shavings in the fuel system. It took more than one year to remove it, you can learn more about this from our material "Fatal shavings" . Small difficulties arose before the launch itself: the specialists forgot to close part of the equipment on the outer surface with screen-vacuum thermal insulation, so it had to be removed from under the head fairing and returned to the Baikonur assembly case.

The launch of "Science" took place on July 21, 2021. The very next day, the module in orbit had problems in the fuel system, so initially it could not turn on the engines. Later, Roskosmos was able to transfer the engines to normal mode and began to raise the module's orbit. Sources also reported problems in the Kurs automatic docking system, but they were also corrected before docking.

On July 29 at 16:30 Moscow time, after an eight-day flight, Nauka touched the docking port of the Zvezda module and the cosmonauts began the process of full coupling and retraction. The integration of the module into the ISS will not end there, and the astronauts will have to carry out ten more spacewalks in order to finally connect all communications, install a robo-arm made by ESA and carry out other work.

After the module becomes a full-fledged part of the station, it will help it maintain orientation, generate oxygen and water for the crew. The module will also be a place for scientific experiments, for example, with the creation of controlled gravity using a centrifuge. In addition, the module has a cabin for one person and a second toilet for the Russian segment.
The next big mission of Roscosmos is the launch of the first lunar lander Luna-25 since Soviet times. Until recently, it was assumed that he will go to the moon this year, but perhaps the flight will still be postponed to 2022.

Grigory Kopiev

 
Just when you thought it was all over!


View: https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1420793619410206722


Nauka/ISS: Russian flight controllers appear to be working an issue of some sort with the newly arrived Nauka lab module; thrusters are apparently firing on both the Nauka and the Russian Zvezda service module

View: https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1420793721268867077


Nauka/ISS: NASA CAPCOM to crew: "Just to update you guys, right now we're in a little bit of a tug of war between thrusters firing from both the SM (service modeule) and the MLM (Nauka). We're sorting through the best course of action right now"
 
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1420798716554928132


Good news from MCC Houston: Nauka thrusters are no longer firing. Attitude control appears to be stabilizing for the International Space Station.
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1420799079366397957


It's not clear what happens next, or whether this affects the planned launch of Starliner on Friday afternoon from Florida. What we know from MCC Houston: "It’s safe to say the remainder of the day is no longer going to happen as scheduled."
 
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Head of Roscosmos Rogozin: on November 24 we plan to launch another module on the ISS

23:08 07/29/2021

MOSCOW, July 29 - RIA Novosti. The head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin announced on Twitter the launch of the next Russian module to the ISS on November 24.

"Preliminarily, on November 24, we plan to launch another module on the ISS - Uzlovy (Berth). We call it a" ball "among ourselves," he wrote.

According to him, the new module will make it possible to dock to the ISS, in particular, the new Russian spacecraft Oryol, designed for flights to the Moon .

Earlier, RIA Novosti announced plans to launch the module on November 24 with reference to the flight schedule.

On Thursday, the Nauka multifunctional laboratory module was moored to the ISS.

 
They are going to purge Nauka’s fuel system with helium tomorrow. Also blow pyrovalves to seal it off so no containment’s can’t get into ISS from it. Both of these actions they were going to do anyway.
 
How much non-Nauka fuel did this cost, though? Plus they had to rotate the station for this docking because they were worried Nauka would blow an off-axis approach, and then put it back afterwards. What strange, concerning start to this module's life.
 
How much non-Nauka fuel did this cost, though? Plus they had to rotate the station for this docking because they were worried Nauka would blow an off-axis approach, and then put it back afterwards. What strange, concerning start to this module's life.
To answer your question via NSF:
During the teleconference, Montalbano said that he wasn't concerned about the amount of depleted prop due to this incident, though it was obviously more then typical it was not enough to worry about.
 
Well they put the MLM thruster off-line. So no more funny stuff. They will continue to prepare the MLM as earlier planned. Takes about 11 space walks before the module in a complete state.
At the same time Mission Ground Control will assign a comitee to find out what went wrong.
My guess its software driven.
 
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Russian cosmonauts may temporarily move to the US segment of the ISS

06:59 07/30/2021 (updated: 09:41 07/30/2021)

MOSCOW, July 30 - RIA Novosti . On Friday, Russian cosmonauts at the International Space Station (ISS) may temporarily move to their "neighbors" so that specialists can bring the fuel system of the Nauka module to a safe state by purging the highways with helium.

This follows from the conversations of the crew with the Earth , broadcast by NASA . Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky asked a specialist from the Mission Control Center near Moscow to coordinate such a possibility with his American colleagues.

The Nauka module docked to the ISS Zvezda module on July 29 after an eight-day flight. It was launched on a Proton-M rocket on July 21, but at the time of launching into orbit one of the ground stations could not receive information from it. After a successful docking with the ISS, when the crew opened the module hatch, the Nauka's engines turned on unscheduled. To stabilize the ISS, the engines of the Russian Progress spacecraft were also brought into working order, there was no threat to the crew.

NASA said that Russia will lead the investigation of the incident, and American engineers will also take part in it. Organization spokesman Joel Montalbano stressed that no damage was found during the docking.

Now the 65th expedition is working on the ISS, consisting of the Russians Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov , the Americans Mark Vande Hai, Shane Kimbrow and Megan MacArthur, the Japanese Akihiko Hoshide and the Frenchman Tom Peske .

 
13:07 07/30/2021 (updated: 13:18 07/30/2021)

MOSCOW, July 30 - RIA Novosti. The hatch to the multipurpose laboratory module "Science" on the ISS is scheduled to open on Friday closer to nine in the evening, follows from the negotiations of the crew with the Earth, broadcast by NASA .

The opening of the hatch to the "Science" was postponed the day before due to the module's engines spontaneously turned on.

A specialist at the Houston Mission Control Center told ISS Commander Akihiko Hoshida that the opening of the hatch to the Nauka module is scheduled for 20.45 Moscow time.

On Friday morning, a specialist from the Moscow Region Mission Control Center allowed cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky to open the hatch of the Zvezda module leading to Nauka, the hatch of which is still closed.

Module "Science" docked to the ISS on July 29. Three hours later, the engines spontaneously turned on on it, which led to a turn of the station by 45 degrees. To return the ISS to the desired position in space, the engines of the Zvezda module and the Progress MS-17 cargo vehicle were used. There was no threat to the station's crew. At the same time, Roskosmos reported that Nauka was being integrated into the ISS and that work was being carried out with the remaining fuel in the module.

Now the 65th expedition is working on the ISS, consisting of the Russians Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov, the Americans Mark Vande Hai, Shane Kimbrow and Megan MacArthur, the Japanese Akihiko Hoshide and the Frenchman Tom Peske.

 
Well they put the MLM thruster off-line. So no more funny stuff. They will continue to prepare the MLM as earlier planned. Takes about 11 space walks before its in a complete state.
At the same time Mission Ground Controll will asign a comitee to find out what went wrong.
My guess its software driven.
It seems not. See below.


10:00 30.07.2021

MOSCOW, July 30 / Radio Sputnik . Roscosmos has no plans to investigate the situation with the Nauka module on the International Space Station (ISS), RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the rocket and space industry.

Earlier, the head of the ISS program at NASA, Joel Montalbano, said that the investigation of the incident would be led by a Russian state corporation with the participation of American engineers.

“Roscosmos is surprised by the reaction of the Americans to the peculiarities of the docking of the Nauka module with the ISS. No commissions on this issue, especially with NASA engineers, will be created, the situation is accepted as normal,” the agency's source said.

The day before, it was reported that the engines of the Nauka module, docked to the ISS on Thursday, unscheduled. To compensate for the indignation from the switched on Nauka engines, it was necessary to start the engines of the Zvezda service module and the Progress MS-17 cargo vehicle docked to the Poisk module.

Later, Nauka's engines were turned off.

On the eve of radio Sputnik reported how Roscosmos explained the inclusion of the engines of Nauka.

 
Well they put the MLM thruster off-line. So no more funny stuff. They will continue to prepare the MLM as earlier planned. Takes about 11 space walks before its in a complete state.
At the same time Mission Ground Controll will asign a comitee to find out what went wrong.
My guess its software driven.
It seems not. See below.


10:00 30.07.2021

MOSCOW, July 30 / Radio Sputnik . Roscosmos has no plans to investigate the situation with the Nauka module on the International Space Station (ISS), RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the rocket and space industry.

Earlier, the head of the ISS program at NASA, Joel Montalbano, said that the investigation of the incident would be led by a Russian state corporation with the participation of American engineers.

“Roscosmos is surprised by the reaction of the Americans to the peculiarities of the docking of the Nauka module with the ISS. No commissions on this issue, especially with NASA engineers, will be created, the situation is accepted as normal,” the agency's source said.

The day before, it was reported that the engines of the Nauka module, docked to the ISS on Thursday, unscheduled. To compensate for the indignation from the switched on Nauka engines, it was necessary to start the engines of the Zvezda service module and the Progress MS-17 cargo vehicle docked to the Poisk module.

Later, Nauka's engines were turned off.

On the eve of radio Sputnik reported how Roscosmos explained the inclusion of the engines of Nauka.

I prefer not to use RIA, RT or TASS(or any other news outlet)..

I got my news directly from the NASA Q & A very recently.

NASA clearly stated that the commity was SOLY a Russian Roscom initiative.. so i don't read the regular press.. its baaad
 
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View: https://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1421068574274301956


Vladimir Soloviev, the flight director of the Russian segment of the ISS, about the yesterday's #Nauka troubleshooting (a thread⤵️).

View: https://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1421069533008252932


Yesterday's approach of Nauka with the ISS went nominal, excluding some fluctuations at the last part of the travel, but the docking system could handle it.

View: http://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1421070107288260609


Due to a short-term software failure, a direct command was mistakenly sent to turn on the nauka's engines, which led to "some modification" of the orientation of the station.

View: https://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1421070930785275910


The propulsion system of the Zvezda Service Module quickly countered this situation. Now the altitude control of the station is regained, is in its normal orientation, all the systems of the ISS and Nauka are working normally.
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ8qsWXgjcc



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There was a brief emergency onboard the International Space Station today, We have pieced together communications between the crew and Houston and Moscow to try timeline what occurred. 16:36 UTC - Crew and MCC Houston notice ISS attitude shifting, Video from ISS shows floating debris 16:36 UTC to 16:40 UTC - ISS is seen to be shifting attitude through external cameras 16:38 UTC - Crew close recently opened MLM hatch 16:40 UTC - MCC Houston confirm ISS is out of attitude by 45 degrees and increasing 16:46 UTC - MCC Houston confirm solar arrays are locked and Cupola windows are closed 16:49 UTC - MCC Moscow ask crew to confirm if Nauka MLM are still firing 16:52 UTC - Crew confirm Nauka MLM thrusters are still firing 16:59 UTC - MCC Houston confirm Zvezda and Nauka MLM are in a 'tug of war' and both trying to fire thrusters 17:16 UTC - MCC Houston confirm Progress is now in attitude control of Space Station 17:28 UTC - MCC Houston confirm Nauka MLM thrusters no longer firing, attitude is back to normal. MLM Nauka had just docked a few hours earlier and the crew had just opening the hatches between the two, Teams on the ground has also began to integrate Nauka MLM into the Space Stations software when this occurred. The crew were in no danger throughout this emergency and the Space Station is now in a stable attitude.
 
The hatches between the module "Science" and the ISS are open

07/30/2021 20:48

On Thursday, July 29, 2021, at 16:29:06 Moscow time, the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module , launched on July 21, 2021 from the Baikonur cosmodrome, was docked to the International Space Station . Today at 20:47 Moscow time, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov opened the transfer hatches and boarded the new Russian module "Science".

After the completion of the docking operations of the multipurpose laboratory module with the nadir docking port of the Zvezda service module of the ISS Russian segment, specialists from the Moscow Region TsNIIMash Mission Control Center (part of the State Corporation Roscosmos), together with the crew of the ISS Russian segment, conducted a tightness control of the docking connections and analyzed telemetry information on the state of the module on-board systems. Then the Russian members of the ISS-65 Expedition Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov opened the hatch of the transition compartment of the Zvezda module and a few minutes later entered the living area of the instrument-hermetic compartment of the laboratory module. In accordance with today's work plan, on board the multipurpose laboratory module, Roskosmos cosmonauts will perform a control examination of the compartments,

Nauka is a multipurpose laboratory module for the Russian segment of the International Space Station. It was created by a cooperation of enterprises with the leading role of the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (Korolev, part of Roscosmos), as a module developer in order to implement a program of scientific experiments and expand the functionality of the Russian segment of the ISS. The module structure was manufactured by the State Space Research and Production Center named after M.V. Khrunicheva (Moscow, part of Roscosmos).

The multipurpose laboratory module "Science" is intended for the implementation of the Russian program of scientific and applied research and experiments. After its commissioning, the Russian segment of the station will receive additional volumes for the arrangement of workplaces and storage of goods, placement of equipment for the regeneration of water and oxygen. It consists of an instrument-hermetic compartment and a spherical pressurized adapter, separated by a sealed bulkhead with a hatch. It is also equipped with an airlock for carrying out scientific equipment outside the station and a European remote manipulator ERA (European Robotic Arm).

In the new Russian module, it is planned to conduct 13 experiments in various directions, including Kaplya-2 (space technologies), Aseptic (space biology and physiology), Mirage, Vampire, Fullerene (space materials science ), "Vitacyc-T" (space biology and physiology), "Rakurs" (exploration of the Earth from space) and others. Flight tests of the "Science" module will be completed in about a year.

 

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