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	Russian Space Station Module Reaches Important Milestone By Anatoly Zak Staff Writer posted: 11:01 am ET 07 October 1999

Long-delayed Zvezda service module, the crucial element of the International Space Station, will pass another milestone this week in its difficult preparation for launch

The long-delayed Zvezda service module, a crucial element of the International Space Station, reached another milestone this week in its difficult preparation for launch.

Zvezda, which is designed to provide primary attitude control, life support and re-boost capability for the Space Station, will leave a vacuum chamber at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by the end of this week, according to Konstantin Kreidenko, a spokesman for the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. The module had been undergoing testing for leaks.

Now that this phase of testing is over, personnel at the Russian launch facility in Kazakhstan will need another 30 days to complete final electrical tests on the module.

"If everything goes as scheduled, the spacecraft will be theoretically ready for launch in the middle of November," Kreidenko said.

On the other hand, RASA confirmed again that, as discussed with NASA, the launch of Zvezda will likely be delayed until the end of December. An official decision on the issue will not be made until a chief designer review meeting, now planned for the last week of October, is held.

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