The specialists of the main scientific institute of Roscosmos TsNIIMash and the Progress Rocket and Space Center were engaged in the revision"
MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The head fairing of the Soyuz-2.1 a launch vehicle was modified after problems during the docking of the Progress MS-15 and Progress MS-16 cargo ships. This is stated in the material of the magazine "Russian Space" (the official publication of Roscosmos).
As specified in the article, the specialists of the main scientific institute of Roscosmos TsNIIMash and the Progress Rocket and Space Center were engaged in the revision. Earlier, presumably due to an abnormal descent of the head fairing, the antenna of the radio engineering system of mutual measurements "Course-ON"was damaged.
During the docking of the Progress MS-16, the astronauts had to switch to the tele-operator control mode (TORU), when the crew members from the ISS use special equipment to control the movement of the cargo ship. As reported by TASS in Roscosmos, this was required due to a deviation from the mooring axis. Earlier, the official ISS Twitter account noted that the transition to the TV operator mode was required due to "the strength of the signal from the automated Kurs system." At the same time, a TASS source in the rocket and space industry reported that the transition from automatic to manual docking of the Progress MS-16 was required due to a damaged antenna installed on the ship. The second source confirmed the information to TASS. According to him, the damage could have been caused by the head fairing of the rocket.
During the docking of the Progress MS-15 spacecraft in July 2020, the cosmonauts also suggested that the MCC specialists switch to the teleoperator control mode, since the target went slightly to the right. However, the transition to the TORAH was not required.
