The dispatch to the Baikonur cosmodrome of the Russian module “Science” for the International Space Station (ISS) was postponed until August 10. This was announced on Friday, August 7, to RIA Novosti in the press service of Roscosmos.
“At the moment, the Khrunichev Center is preparing the accompanying documentation, confirming the conformity of the means of transportation, as well as agreeing on the conditions of transportation with Russian Railways. Russian Railways has confirmed the departure window for the removal of especially valuable oversized cargo from the territory of the State Research and Production Space Center on August 10, ”the agency was told.
Initially, the launch of the module was planned for May 2020, and before that – for July. In December 2019, Dmitry Rogozin, the general director of Roscosmos, announced a possible postponement to 2021.
The Nauka module began to be built at the Khrunichev Center in 1995 as a ground backup for the first Zarya ISS module. In 2013, after its transfer from the manufacturing enterprise to the Energia rocket and space corporation, during testing, it turned out that the fuel system contains foreign particles. It was decided to return the module for revision.
The module is capable of producing oxygen for six people, as well as regenerating water from urine. In addition, Nauka will provide the cosmonauts with a second toilet, a cabin for a third crew member, as well as the European manipulator ERA, which will allow performing a number of work without going into outer space.