Rome, 30 July 2021 – Great tension on the International Space Station (Iss): about 3 hours after the docking of the Russian form Nauka, around 18:30 Italian time, i engines of the form you are access in an uncontrolled way putting the entire ISS in rotation.
To counteract the thrust, the engines of some modules on board were activated. The station has reached ainclination of 45 degrees but the situation gradually returned under control. There was no damage to the 7 astronauts on board, nor to the ISS but we will now have to investigate the causes of the malfunction.
“It was certainly a unexpected accident but we cannot call it serious, rather ‘undesirable,’ he told Ansa Bernardo Patti, for a long time in charge of the ISS for the European Space Agency (ESA) and now in charge of the ESA Exploration Program. “In no time – Patti specified – there was a real danger of life for the crew aboard the Space Station”.
The Russian form Nauka
On the Russian form Nauka, Patti explained: “The form had registered several anomalies from the beginning and now the Russian space agency will make its own investigation to ascertain the details of the causes “.
Shortly after the launch of the module, in fact, on 21 July from the Baikonur base, in Kazakhstan, the Nauka module had made everyone stand with bated breath for the misfire of its main thrusters but the ground technicians had still managed to activate auxiliary engines to get the module to the right altitude and proceed with the maneuvers to approach the ISS that had been concluded yesterday at 15.29 Italian time.
After about 3 hours, however, the Nauka’s engines suddenly re-ignited “some of the valves for the propellant control had not closed”, concluded Patti.
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