The Berth node module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) can be equipped with an international docking adapter International Docking Adapter (IDA) and used for docking American spacecraft Crew Dragon and Starliner, writes Teslarati.
The American edition notes that currently relevant negotiations can be conducted between Roscosmos and NASA. Teslarati reminds that at the moment there are two IDA adapters on the ISS, which are actively used by the Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Two more ports that allow IDA equipment are already occupied, since they are involved in docking the Cygnus spacecraft and, in the future, Dream Chaser. "The addition of a third IDA port on the International Space Station will greatly simplify NASA's life," Teslarati saw the benefits in the Russian "Berth".
The Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Progress M-UM transport cargo ship and the Berth node module launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the ISS on November 24. The undocking of Progress MS-17 together with the spacer of the passive docking unit of the Nauka module from the ISS took place on November 25. The docking of the Progress M-UM module ship with the Berth to the ISS is on November 26. The separation of the instrument-aggregate compartment from the "Berth" is scheduled for December 22.
Ivan Potapov
