The launch date of the Russian module "Science" to the International Space Station (ISS) has not yet been determined. This was announced on Monday, July 5, the press service of Roscosmos reported.
"The launch date of the MLM Nauka will be determined after the meeting of the technical management, which is scheduled for July 6," the press service said.
Earlier in the day, RIA Novosti, citing a source in the space industry, reported that the launch of the module to the ISS was postponed from July 15 to July 21, and its docking with the station is scheduled for July 29. According to the agency, on July 1, a "remark" was detected on the module during preparation for launch at Baikonur. It was returned from refueling to the assembly and test building for troubleshooting.
On June 29, the head of Roskomos, Dmitry Rogozin, reported in his Telegram channel that the module was ready to be sent to the refueling and neutralization station.
In early June, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov performed the first spacewalk on the ISS this year. During the exit, the astronauts combined resource work, space experiments and the preparation of the ISS for the reception of the multipurpose laboratory module "Science".
In April, Roscosmos said that the new Russian module of the station will allow conducting experiments in outer space and will give an additional cabin for an astronaut. So, there will be about 20 places for installing scientific equipment on the outer surface of the module, which will allow conducting experiments in outer space directly from the ISS.
Also, due to the "Science", the area of the Russian segment of the station will increase. In addition, workstations with universal mounts for scientific equipment will be assembled, which will allow you to easily change the equipment necessary for experiments.
The launch of the module was planned for May 2020. In December 2019, the head of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin announced a possible postponement to 2021. In February 2020, the general director of the M. V. Khrunichev Center, which manufactured the module, Alexey Brekhochko noted that it is planned to send the module to the cosmodrome on March 19.
In July 2020, Rogozin said that Nauka would be launched to the ISS in April 2021. Currently, the launch date is called the summer of 2021.
The Nauka module began to be built in the Khrunichev Center in 1995 as a ground backup of the first module of the ISS Zarya.
