Russian cosmonauts, opening the hatch, went from the ISS to the “Science” module

In accordance with the current plan of work on board the module, the astronauts will carry out a control examination of the compartments, take air samples and install an atmosphere purification filter unit. Before opening the hatch, ISS personnel purged the fuel lines of the module with helium to secure the fuel system.

The cosmonauts planned to go from the ISS to the inside of the docked module yesterday, but problems with pressure began, and the MCC specialist, during negotiations with the crew, asked the astronauts to attach manovacuum meters to the module hatch in order to control the pressure level.

Later, the module unexpectedly turned on the engines, which caused the ISS to turn 45 degrees. To compensate for the impulse, the engines of the Zvezda module and the Progress cargo ship had to be used. The reason for this was called a short-term software failure, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said that the failure could have provoked the human factor.

On July 29, the Nauka module successfully docked to the ISS. Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky did the docking manually, because the automatics did not work.

The rocket was launched on July 21 at 17:58 Moscow time. After starting, the module encountered malfunctions in the fuel system, but they managed fix and enable propulsion systems.

The “Science” module began to be developed back in 1995. It was planned to be launched to the ISS in 2007, but the launch has been postponed many times. The long delay was due to a manufacturing defect that left metal shavings in the fuel system.

This module should become the main platform for experiments in the Russian segment of the ISS. Total “Roskosmos” plans to conduct 13 experiments in various directions, among which – “Drop-2” (space technologies), “Aseptic” (space biology and physiology), “Mirage”, “Vampire”, “Fullerene” (all three – space materials science), ” Vitacyc-T “(space biology and physiology),” Rakurs “(exploration of the Earth from space) and others.

Inside the module there are several workplaces for scientific equipment, outside there are universal adapters for installing research equipment.

Nauka also delivered water containers, handrails, fans, cables and other cargo to the ISS.

Flight tests of MLM Nauka will end one year after its launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome.