Space Stations

The launch of the Shenzhou 13 mission (Photo courtesy Xinhua)

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A confirmation has arrived that the three Chinese taikonauts of the Shenzhou 13 mission have reached the Chinese space station’s Tianhe core module with an automated docking maneuver. They blasted off about six and a half hours earlier on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They’re the second crew of the Chinese space station and will remain there for about six months, twice the length of the Shenzhou 12 mission.

The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three new crew members on board. The ultra-fast route was used which halves the journey duration. The docking with the Station’s Rassvet module was about 10 minutes late because the Kurs automatic system had some problems and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov had to manually pilot the Soyuz MS-19.

The Cygnus S.S. Ellison Onizuka captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, launched last Tuesday, August 10, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Astronaut Megan McArthur, assisted by her colleague Thomas Pesquet, will soon begin the slow maneuver to move the Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Unity module after about two hours.

Nauka/MLM docking with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, the Russian Nauka module, formally called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), docked with the International Space Station, becoming part of the Russian section many years late. Along with it is the European Robotic Arm (ERA) developed under the auspices of ESA. Nauka/MLM replaces the Pirs module, which on July 26 was dropped from the Station and transported by the Progress MS-16 cargo spacecraft to Earth’s atmosphere, where both disintegrated on reentry. Nauka was launched on July 21.