Possible Kurs Docking System Failure May Be Behind Soyuz MS-14 Incident - Source

Russia's Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with humanoid robot Skybot F-850, nicknamed FEDOR, on board might have failed to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday due to a possible malfunction of the Kurs docking system, a source in the space industry told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2019) Russia's Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with humanoid robot Skybot F-850, nicknamed FEDOR, on board might have failed to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday due to a possible malfunction of the Kurs docking system, a source in the space industry told Sputnik.

Earlier on Saturday, the Soyuz MS-14 failed to dock at the ISS on schedule and started retreating from the station. Later, the spacecraft was pulled to a safe distance from the ISS.

In the wake of the incident, the docking was delayed until Monday, according to the Mission Control Center.

"After the Soyuz MS-14 approached the station at a distance of 100 meters [328 feet], there may have been a failure of one subset of the Kurs-NA rendezvous system of the vehicle, it was automatically switched to the second one, but problems occurred there too. So, the Mission Control System ordered that the vessel be pulled away from the station," the source said.