New Russian lab briefly knocks International Space Station out of position

A freshly arriving Russian science lab mistakenly fired its thrusters and momentarily pushed the International Space Station out of place on Thursday. When the fire happened a few hours after docking, the space station lost control of its orientation for 47 minutes. Later, forcing the orbiting complex out of its typical configuration.

The station’s location is critical for getting power from the solar panels and/or communications. For a few minutes, communications with ground controllers also went down twice. NASA stated that flight controllers recovered control of the spacecraft by utilizing thrusters on other Russian components at the station to level it. Adding that it is now stable and safe.

“We haven’t noticed any damage,” space station program manager Joel Montalbano said in a late afternoon press conference. “There was no immediate danger at any time to the crew.”

The team didn’t detect any movement or shaking, according to Montalbano. The station shifted 45 degrees out of attitude, or approximately one-eighth of a full round, according to NASA. According to NASA spokesperson Bob Jacobs, the complex was never rotating. Kathy Lueders, NASA’s chief of human spaceflight, termed it “a pretty exciting hour.”

NASA had scheduled a repeat test flight for Boeing’s crew capsule for Friday afternoon from Florida but had to cancel it due to the mishap. Boeing will attempt to reach the 250-mile-high station for the second time before putting astronauts on board; the first effort was hampered by technical issues.

The launch of Nauka, which will allow for additional scientific experiments and crew space, has been continually postponed due to technical issues. It was supposed to be over in 2007.

Nauka

Experts discovered pollution in the fuel system in 2013, necessitating a lengthy and pricey replacement. They also modernized and repaired other Nauka systems. Nauka is the first new compartment for the Russian segment of the outpost since 2010. It is 43 feet (13 meters) long. The Pirs spacewalking compartment, one of the station’s older Russian modules, undocked from the station on Monday to make place for the new lab. To prepare for the operation, Nauka will undergo a series of maneuvers. It includes up to 11 spacewalks commencing in early September.

NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, and Megan McArthur, as well as Russian Roscosmos astronauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, presently manage the space station.

Russia launched the station’s initial compartment, Zarya, in 1998. Followed by another large component, Zvezda, in 2000, and three smaller modules in the years after that. Rassvet, the last of them, arrived at the station in 2010.

Russian space authorities downplayed the incident, with Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin tweeting: “All in order at the ISS. The crew is resting, which is what I advise you to do as well.”

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