ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
August 3, 2021
The integration of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module with the Russian segment of the ISS continues on board the International Space Station. During the week, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Petr Dubrov will carry out work to unload the module and dismantle the equipment that has arrived on it.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Petr Dubrov inside Nauka module
In addition, the Russian crew members of the 65th long-term expedition are beginning to prepare for the upcoming spacewalks. The next ones are tentatively scheduled for September 2 and 8, 2021. They will focus on the integration of the new Science module on the outside of the International Space Station.
The very integration of the new module into the station will take more than six months and will require about ten spacewalks of Russian cosmonauts. During this period, cable networks and pipelines will have to be laid, the means of fastening large-sized objects, as well as an airlock and a radiation heat exchanger, which are currently located on the Rassvet small research module, will be installed.
Nauka hatch opening
The next operation associated with the Nauka module is the re-docking of the Yu.A. Gagarin "("Soyuz MS-18"). According to preliminary data from the ballistic and navigation support service of the TsNIIMash Flight Control Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), the ship's undocking from the Rassvet module and docking with Nauka are scheduled for September 28, 2021. By re-parking, Soyuz MS-18 will free the docking station for the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch on October 5.
ISS orbit altitude correction is scheduled for August 19
In order to form ballistic conditions before launching and docking of the Soyuz MS-19 manned transport vehicle, as well as undocking and landing of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, the specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center will correct the orbital altitude of the International Space Station.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: ESA
According to preliminary data from the ballistic and navigation support service of the TsNIIMash Flight Control Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), on August 19, 2021 at 07:04 Moscow time, the engines of the Zvezda service module will be turned on, which will operate for 47 seconds, and the impulse value will be 0.67 m / s. After this maneuver, the average altitude of the ISS should increase by 1.2 km and amount to 420.84 km.
Currently, the crew of the 65th long-term expedition, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai, who arrived on April 9, 2021 on the Soyuz MS-18 manned spacecraft, as well as crew members Crew Dragon - NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrow and Megan MacArthur, ESA astronaut Tom Peske and Japan Aerospace Research Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
Spacecraft will fly to the ISS in a single-turn scheme in about two hours
Transport spaceships will be able to reach the International Space Station (ISS) in a single-turn scheme in about two hours. The head of the ballistics department of the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (part of Roscosmos) Rafail Murtazin told TASS about this.
“I think it is possible to keep within two hours with a theoretical limit of about 1 hour 20 minutes, that is, you can accelerate further, but probably not for safety reasons,” said Murtazin, answering the question of how long it will take for the ships fly to the ISS according to the appropriate flight pattern.
According to the ballistician, now the estimated time is 2 hours 7 minutes. “If you optimize with the final leg, by reducing the arrival speed and not applying braking impulses, you can immediately go into the fly-over phase, thereby further increasing the safety of the docking,” he explained.
Progress MS-11 cargo spacecraft
In April 2019, RSC Energia developed a single-orbit rendezvous scheme for spacecraft with the ISS; for the first time its elements were tested during the flight of the Progress MS-17 spacecraft. Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos, told reporters that a single-turn flight to the ISS could be tested in 2022.
Rafail Murtazin, head of the RSC Energia ballistics department, told TASS that the single-turn scheme assumes that after launching with two pulses, the spacecraft will be in a coelliptical orbit geometrically similar to the ISS orbit. With this approach, when the observation angle of the station from the ship is 23 degrees, the point of fulfillment of the optimal impulse, leading the ship to the vicinity of the station through a half-turn, is uniquely determined.
Related links (in Russian):
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32078/
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32081/
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32075/
Science module: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/nauka/
Soyuz MS-18: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/sojuz-ms-18/
Soyuz MS-19: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/sojuz-ms-19/
RSC Energia: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/rkk-ehnergija/
ISS Expedition 65: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks-65/
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks/
Images, Animation (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/NASA/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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