New Russian Lab Briefly Nudges The ISS Out Of Position
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The seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) recently encountered an unexpected and potentially dangerous situation. The Russian laboratory module, Nauka, inadvertently fired its thrusters while docked at the ISS. The force nudged the space station out of its normal flight position for a short time.
Nauka embarked on its eight-day journey to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 21, 2021. As expected, the spacecraft autonomously docked at the ISS on July 29, 2021. However, about three hours later, Nauka sprang back to life after a software glitch activated its thrusters. The accidental misfiring pushed the ISS out of its normal orientation by 45 degrees, or about one-eighth of a circle.
Fortunately, flight controllers on Earth were able to bring the ISS back into position with opposing thrusters fired from other Russian modules. The astronauts did not feel any movement during the 47-minute incident. However, the station's position is key to keeping its solar panels illuminated and its antennas in contact with Earth. Hence, the slight shift did result in a loss of communication with ground control twice. It was just for a few minutes each time.
Space station program manager Joel Montalbano later said that there were no immediate signs of damage to the station. Though the incident was declared a "spacecraft emergency," NASA officials assert that the astronauts aboard were never in any danger.
Nauka, which means "science" in Russian, weighs more than 22 tons and measures 42 feet (13 meters) long. It is the biggest space laboratory Russia has launched to date. The multi-purpose spacecraft is equipped with an oxygen generator, a spare bed, a toilet, and a large robotic arm from the European Space Agency. It is designed to provide the ISS crew with more living and research space.
Resources: Gizmondo.com, NASA.gov, Space.com
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48 Comments
- sophiaholcombabout 3 yearsThat would have been really scary! I wouldn't have liked when they lost communication with ground control. SCARY!!
- hipersonsabout 3 yearsoh yeah thats true
- pickabillyabout 3 yearsThe ISS is like starwars
- jolie0402dogoabout 3 yearsGosh...they should have fired it more precisely!
- not_gone21about 3 yearswhat if they just floated off into space
- hipersonsabout 3 yearsthen they would have gone rip
- jolie0402dogoabout 3 yearsThat would be super dangerous, and if I was in the ISS being nudged off of track, I wouldn't want to die like this.
- summer_beachabout 3 yearsMe either.
- cocoquinnabout 3 yearsI did a project in 6th grade about the ISS (I'm in 11th) and when I saw this article I felt so bad because people could've died
- starwarsnici101about 3 yearsI am glad everything is ok
- cramuzxabout 3 yearsnauka is cursed, it was supposed to launch in 2007 it was delayed till 2021 and it still causes problems glad everything is fine
- hipersonsabout 3 yearswow.
- minecraft_kat26about 3 yearsglad everything's okay!😊
- jaylan0104about 3 yearsVery cool
- mattchienabout 3 yearscool