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New Russian Docking Module Arrives at International Space Station

Russia’s new Prichal docking module arrives at the station providing additional docking ports and fuel transfer capabilities. Credit: NASA

The five-ton Prichal docking module arrived at the International Space Station at 10:19 a.m. EST, propelled by a modified Russian Progress propulsion compartment. They docked to the Nauka module on the Earth-facing side of the Russian segment two days after lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday, November 24 at 8:06 a.m. EST (6:06 p.m. Baikonur time). The spacecraft were flying about 260 miles over Ukraine at the time of docking.

To make room for Prichal, the uncrewed Progress 78 cargo craft undocked from Nauka at 6:23 a.m. Thursday, November 25, and burned up upon reentry in the Earth’s atmosphere later that morning.

Prichal, named for the Russian word for pier, has five available docking ports to accommodate multiple Russian spacecraft and provide fuel transfer capability to the Nauka module. Named for the Russian word for “science,” Nauka launched to the space station in July.

The modified Progress transport spacecraft that guided Prichal to the station will remain in place until late December.

Russian Progress Spacecraft Baikonur Cosmodrome

Russian Progress Spacecraft Launch Baikonur Cosmodrome

Russian Progress Spacecraft Launch

Russian Progress Spacecraft Lift Off

A Russian Progress spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan at 8:06 a.m. EST (6:06 p.m. Baikonur time) on November 24 carrying the five-ton Prichal docking module into Earth orbit.

On November 24, 2021, at 16:06:36 Moscow Time, a launch vehicle Soyuz-2.1b lifted-off from Launch Pad No.31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Cargo Transportation Spacecraft-Module (CTSCM) Progress M-NM designed to deliver the Node Module (NM) Prichal to the International Space Station (ISS).

Source: SciTechDaily