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After a brief shock, everything turned out fine: »Nauka« successfully docked on the ISS
Photo: ROSCOSMOS / REUTERS
After an initial breakdown, a new Russian research module is now connected to the International Space Station ISS.
"An hour ago our crew entered the› Nauka ‹module," wrote the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, on Twitter on Saturday afternoon.
The hatch to the "Nauka" (science) laboratory docked on Thursday evening had already been opened several hours earlier.
Shortly after the module had arrived on Friday night, there was an incident in space: apparently due to a brief software malfunction, the »Naucasus« engines switched on unplanned.
This set the entire ISS in motion.
The US space agency Nasa lost control of the station's position in space for almost an hour.
After an emergency response, the all-clear was given.
The engines of the module had fired "accidentally and unexpectedly" and thereby shifted the ISS by 45 degrees out of its regular trajectory, the US space agency Nasa announced on Thursday via Twitter.
Therefore, another rocket launch planned for Friday was initially canceled.
What »Nauka« is used for
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"Nauka" is to replace the disused module "Pirs" (landing stage) on the Russian part of the station, which was recently sunk in the Pacific.
As a multi-purpose module, »Nauka« is primarily intended for research, but is also intended to serve as a team quarters with its own life support system.
There is also a toilet on board.
The module, which weighs over 20 tons, measures 13 by 4.11 meters.
Actually, »Nauka« was supposed to be brought into space in 2007, but due to repeated problems there were delays for years.
Roskosmos announced again on Saturday that it wanted to complete its own Russian space station by 2028. The scientific and technical council of the Russian space agency has already approved the announced construction. The Russians want to withdraw from the aging ISS.