Russia launches a new module bound for the International Space Station

Russia launches a new module bound for the International Space Station

Russia launches a new module bound for the International Space Station. Credit: Twitter

Russia launches a new module bound for the International Space Station.

THE Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the Progress cargo ship with the Prichal (Pier) docking module is on its way to the station after successfully launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at around 2 pm on Wednesday, November 24.

The rocket has unfurled its solar arrays and navigation antenna to begin the journey towards the International Space station for docking Friday, November 26 – where it will hook up to the new Russian Nauka (Science) laboratory module that was added to the station in July.

According to early reports, the cargo spacecraft-module solar panels and antennas were deployed at around 2.30 pm. The report also said that the launch and the flight of the rocket went smoothly.

Before docking the International Space station, Russia’s Progress MS-17 cargo freighter is slated to undock from the Nauka module at the space station on Thursday, November 25 at around 12.23 pm to clear the way for the arrival of Prichal.

The new spherical module with six docking ports will allow potential future expansion of the Russian segment of the station.

Earlier this week, Russian crew on the station started training for Prichal’s arrival, simulating the use of manual controls in case the automatic docking system fails.

The space outpost is currently operated by NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei; Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov; and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency.


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Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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