In the 21st Year of Station — a New Module
When the Pirs docking compartment vacated the International Space Station on July 26, along with an unpiloted Progress 77 cargo spacecraft, it made room for a new module: Russia’s Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM). Named Nauka, the Russian word for “science,” the MLM arrived at the space station’s Poisk module on the space-facing side of the Russian segment eight days after lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Nauka will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk airlock for future operations, but its voyage to station was not without some dramatic moments for space station teams and flight controllers on the ground.
The Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module undergoes final processing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in preparation for its launch to the International Space Station on a Proton rocket. Credits: Roscosmos
Thrusters Thrust Nauka into the Spotlight
Following the docking of Nauka at 8:29 a.m. CDT July 29, Russian cosmonauts aboard the space station began conducting leak checks between Nauka and the service module. Scant hours later, at 11:45 a.m., the flight control team noticed the unplanned firing of MLM thrusters that caused the station to move out of orientation. Ground teams worked quickly to regain attitude control and stabilize the space station.
Nauka approaches the space station, preparing to dock. Credits: NASA TV
Cooperation in Human Spaceflight a Hallmark of Station
While the crew was never and is not in any danger, the cool-headed and efficient response of Mission Control Houston and Roscosmos was still remarkable to behold.
“Congratulations to all involved with the successful MLM docking and outstanding response to the subsequent Loss of Attitude Control (LOAC) that occurred,” said International Space Station Program Manager Joel Montalbano in a note to space station employees. “What we saw last Thursday was a tremendous job done by the MCC-H and MCC-M flight control teams. It shows the vehicle’s agility, our ability to take on contingencies, recover from them, and keep charging forward. The level of teamwork that transpired during the anomaly was paramount. This team handled the contingency with a degree of expertise and confidence that simply can’t be matched.”
Behind the scenes, the station team seamlessly operated as one with both international and commercial partners.
“This is a reflection of the collaborative nature of the orbiting laboratory and all that it enables when we work together,” Montalbano continued. “Human spaceflight cooperation continues to be a hallmark of the International Space Station.”
Continued analysis with unplanned thruster firings on Nauka has shown the space station remains in good shape, with systems performing normally. Post-event reconstructions showed that the station experienced a total attitude change of approximately 540 degrees. Most importantly, the maximum rate and acceleration of the attitude change did not approach safety limits for station systems, and normal operations resumed once attitude control was regained.
The 43-foot long, 23-ton MLM heralds a new era for the microgravity outpost, which for more than 20 years has supported astronauts continuously living and working in space to test the technologies, perform the science, and develop the skills needed for us to delve deeper into the cosmos.
Follow the space station’s evolving journey by following the space station blog; @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter; as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
International Space Station configuration on July 29, 2021. Three spaceships are docked at the space station, including the SpaceX Crew Dragon, Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 crew ship, and ISS Progress 78 resupply ship. The new Nauka Multipurpose Logistics Module is now attached to the Zvezda service module’s Earth-facing port. Credits: NASA