A new
Russian room that doubles as a docking port for the International Space Station
is ready for a planned Tuesday launch toward the orbiting laboratory.
The new
Mini-Research Module 2, called Poisk (Russian for "Explore"), is due to blast
off atop a Soyuz rocket tomorrow at 9:22 a.m. EST (1422 GMT) from the Central
Asian spaceport of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Shaped like
a large rounded-off barrel, the unmanned Poisk module is Russia's
newest addition for the International Space Station and comes with a vital
feature: An extra docking port for visiting Soyuz crew vehicles and automated
cargo ships. It is due to arrive at the station Thursday and boost the number
of Russian docking ports to four.
"We've been
working on getting up to four Russian docking ports for years now," Kirk
Shireman, NASA's deputy station program manager, told SPACE.com. "This module
coming up is going to bring that to fruition."
Space
parking spots
The station's
three current Russian docking ports — two on the bottom, and one aft — accommodate
two Soyuz ships and a visiting cargo freighter. NASA space shuttles dock to an
American-built berth at the front of the
orbiting laboratory.
Because the
station has a full six-person crew, it needs two Soyuz craft — which carry
three people each — docked at all times to ferry astronauts back home and serve
as lifeboats in an emergency. Together with a linked cargo ship, they fill up
all three of the available Russian berths, causing some traffic concerns for
new crews and supply ships.
Shireman
said Poisk will give the station more flexibility for handling space traffic
because of its extra spaceship parking spot.
The Poisk
module is just over 13 feet (4 meters) long, about 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide and
weighs about 8,000 pounds (17,636 kg). It has about 380 cubic feet (10.7 cubic
meters) of actual living space inside and is launching with about 2,204 pounds
(1,000 kg) of cargo, about 1,764 pounds (800 kg) of which is made
up of Russian Orlan spacesuits and life support gear.
NASA
officials did not have information from Russia's Federal Space Agency on the estimated
cost for Poisk, Shireman said.
New Russian
room
The Poisk
module is the first Russian addition to the space station since the 2001
arrival of the Pirs docking compartment on the bottom, Earth-facing part of the
station and shares much in common with that earlier module. The station's
Russian segment is currently made up of two large modules (called Zvezda and
Zarya) and Pirs.
Like Pirs,
Poisk comes equipped with a cargo boom and external hatch to be used on Russian
spacewalks. It has room for new space experiments to be attached to its outer
hull.
"The reason
why the name of this new module is Mini Research Module is due to the fact that
this new addition to the station will house a number of scientific experiments
that will be performed under the Russian space agency science program," said Russian
cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, who is living
aboard the station today.
The new
room will also launch unmanned, fly to the space station and dock autonomously
like Pirs. Romanenko and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suarev inside the station will
stand at the ready to take remote control of the spacecraft should it veer
off-course.
But Poisk
will be the first docking port to be located on top of the space station.
Station astronauts performed two spacewalks earlier this year to prepare the
rooftop berth on the station's Zvezda module for the new docking port.
The Poisk
module is actually one of two Mini-Research Modules built for the space station
by Russia. Its sister craft, Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM1), will launch aboard
a NASA space shuttle next year and be delivered using robotic arms.
Shireman
said Russia also plans to launch at least one new, larger laboratory module to
the space station in coming years, but will make a formal decision on whether
to proceed once the outpost's mission duration (currently slated to end around
2016) is pinned down more firmly.
Poisk is
launching first because it was ready to fly earlier that MRM1, NASA officials
have said. The International Space Station has been under construction since
1998 and is the product of cooperation among more than 16 countries.
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