New Space Station Module to Launch 21st July

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Nauka module launch scheduled for July 21

Quote

In accordance with the State Commission decision, the Proton-M carrier rocket with the new Nauka laboratory module is scheduled to launch from Site 200 of the Baikonur cosmodrome on July 21, 2021 at 14:58:21 UTC. Reserve dates: July 22 and 23. Its flight to the International Space Station will take 8 days, and docking to the nadir port of the Zvezda service module is scheduled for July 29, expected at 13:26 UTC.

  Read More: Roscosmos

 

[+and-then]

1 hour ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

Its flight to the International Space Station will take 8 days

Do you know the reason it will take 8 days?  Usually, it only takes a couple of days for "phasing".  I have this odd mental image of the craft having to bob and weave through a minefield of space junk.  

[Waspie_Dwarf]

3 hours ago, and then said:

Do you know the reason it will take 8 days?

It's partly about energy requirements. Most missions to the International Space Station are carrying either crew or perishable goods. They need to reach the station is quickly as possible. Soyuz and Progress craft typically take 3 orbits and US craft, as you said, a couple of days. This, however, uses more fuel and therefore costs more than a slow approach. Since the Nauka module is not carrying any time critical payloads a more leisurely route is an option.

There is a further, and in this case, more important reason. Nauka can only dock to the ISS once the Pirs module is removed. Pirs acts as a docking port for Soyuz and Progress vehicles. Nauka will, temporarily, take on this role, until the new Pirchal docking module is launched in November. If Pirs is removed and Nauka fails then it would severely reduce the Russian's ability to send vehicles to the ISS. To limit the risk they are going to spend several days fully checking out Nauka in orbit. Once it is declared ready Pirs will be undocked. Two days later Nauka will dock.

[Still Waters]

Russia sends long-delayed module to space station

A Russian rocket has departed the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to deliver a new science module to the International space station (ISS).

The 13m-long, 20-tonne Nauka laboratory will go on the rear of the orbiting platform, connected to the other major Russian segments, Zvezda and Zarya.

The new module carries with it a large robotic arm (ERA) supplied by the European Space Agency (Esa).

Nauka is much delayed. It was originally supposed to launch in 2007.

But it suffered repeated slips in schedule, in part because of budget difficulties but also because engineers encountered a raft of technical problems during development.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57921439