Progress Spacecraft To Prepare ISS For New Russian Module - Roscosmos

Progress Spacecraft to Prepare ISS for New Russian Module - Roscosmos

The Progress MS-17 cargo ship, currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), will be used to prepare the station for receiving the new Russian Prichal node module, set to be launched in November, Roscosmos state space corporation said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) The Progress MS-17 cargo ship, currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS), will be used to prepare the station for receiving the new Russian Prichal node module, set to be launched in November, Roscosmos state space corporation said Thursday.

"It (Progress MS-17) will prepare the ISS for receiving the new Prichal node module. Since July 2 ... the cargo ship has been docked to the Poisk mini research module; its undocking is scheduled for October 21. After two days of autonomous flight, it is expected to dock automatically to the nadir node of the Nauka module," Roscosmos stated.

The docking port of the Nauka module has a special adapter which allows the Russian Soyuz MS and Progress MS spacecraft to dock, the state corporation noted.

The Progress MS-17 cargo ship will bring the adapter with it during the final undocking from the station, allowing the Prichal module to dock at Nauka, Roscosmos explained.

The Prichal module launch is scheduled for November 24.

The new module has five ports for receiving either manned or cargo ships, as well as other modules.

The Russian segment of the ISS consists of five modules, with the latest addition being the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Nauka docked with the ISS on July 29 after fourteen years waiting on earth and eight days of orbital flight. This is the first Russian module sent to the station in eleven years. The module was originally scheduled to go into orbit in 2007, but the launch was postponed multiple times for various reasons.