An additional docking component was launched from Baikonur this evening to the station which will allow the docking of additional Russian spaceships
A Soyuz rocket carrying a new component to the International Space Station took off from the Baikonur launch center in Kazakhstan (16:22 Israel time). The new component known as Poisk, a discovery in Russian, is a combination of a docking component, an airlock, and a future module for experiments.
The new component will meet with the station on Thursday at 17:44 Israel time. Foysk is the first compressed component added to the station since the Japanese JEM research module was launched to the station in May 2008, and is also the first Russian component to the station since the launch of the Pierce docking module in 2001.
The new component will serve as an additional docking station for Russian spaceships, as an airlock for spacewalks that will be supervised from Russia, and as a platform for conducting external scientific experiments.
The new component is almost a twin of Pierce, 4 meters long and 2.5 meters wide. It will initially serve as a docking facility during the repositioning of the Soyuz spacecraft in January. In order to utilize the volume to the fullest, the component was also loaded with approximately 800 kg of equipment and food for the station. He is expected to reach her during Thursday afternoon.
An accompanying component known as Mini Research Component #1 will be uploaded to the station during the STS-132 Atlantis mission, scheduled for May 2010. The component will be attached via the robotic arm to the Zarya component.
