Poisk (ISS module)
Poisk (Russian: По́иск; lit. Search), also known as the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2), [Малый исследовательский модуль 2] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), or МИМ 2, is a docking module of the International Space Station. Its original name was Docking Module 2 ([Stykovochniy Otsek 2] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (SO-2)), as it is almost identical to the Pirs Docking Compartment already on the station. Poisk is the first major Russian addition to the International Space Station since 2001.[1]
Details
Poisk docked to the zenith port of the Zvezda module on November 12, 2009, and will serve as an additional docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and as an airlock for spacewalks. Poisk will also provide extra space for scientific experiments, and provide power-supply outlets and data-transmission interfaces for two external scientific payloads to be developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Two spacewalks conducted from the ISS in June 2009, successfully completed activities anticipating Poisk module's future berthing.
On 05 June 2009, during Russian Orlan EVA-22 spacewalk[2] Expedition 19/20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt installed two Kurs docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors on the exterior of Zvezda's Service Module.
On June 10 2009, during Russian Orlan EVA-23 spacewalk[3] Padalka and Barratt replaced a flat hatch cover in the forward section of Zvezda with a standard conical docking cone cover to allow for Poisk's docking.
To prepare Poisk for receiving Soyuz and Progress ships, cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Maksim Suraev are scheduled to conduct a spacewalk in January 2010. They would deploy antennas and a docking target and plug the new module's Kurs antennas into the Kurs docking system circuitry. After the completion of the spacewalk, the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft would be re-docked to the zenith-facing port of the Poisk module at the end of January 2010.
Design and construction
The module was designed and built by S.P. Korolev RSC Energia[4][5][6], the leading organization engaged in the development and operational use of the ISS Russian segment.
Launch in 2009
The module was launched on November 10, 2009, 2:22 p.m. GMT[7][8] attached to a modified Progress spacecraft, called Progress M-MRM2, on a Soyuz-U rocket from Launch Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The occasion also marked the 1750th launch of a Soyuz rocket in its various configurations. About eight minutes after launch, the three-stage Soyuz rocket delivered Poisk, to a low-altitude injection orbit. According to NASA Poisk carried about 1800 pounds of cargo to the ISS including new Russian Orlan spacesuits, life support equipment, medical supplies and crew hygiene items.
The Progress space tug provided electrical power and propulsion for the Poisk module during its two-day journey to the space station. On 12 November, Progress began its automated final approach to the station on a Kurs rendezvous radar system and at 15:41 UTC[9] Poisk docked to the Zvezda module's zenith port. The docking happened as the space station sailed more than 220 miles over northern Kazakhstan.
Cosmonauts Maksim Surayev and Roman Romanenko entered the module for the first time by opening the hatch leading into Poisk at 7:17 a.m. EST on 13 November.
The jettisoning of the Progress ship from the Poisk module happened around 8 December. It was destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere.
Specifications
| Designation[10] | 240GK No. 2L |
| Launch mass | 3670 kg ± 50 kg |
| Maximum hull diameter | 2.55 m |
| Hull length between docking assembly planes | 4.049 m |
| Pressurized volume | 14.8 m3 |
| Habitable volume | 10.7 m3 |
| Number of egress hatches (open inward) | 2 |
| Egress hatch diameter | 1 m |
| Mass of delivered cargoes | up to 1000 kg |
False depressurization alarm
False alarms woke the crews aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the Space Station at 8:36 p.m. EST on 19 November, 2009 and once again at 9:53 p.m. EST, on 20 November.[11][12] An erroneous indication of a rapid depressurization led to the automatic shutdown of ventilation fans throughout the station, which stirred up dust and led to a false smoke detection alarm in the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. Mission control Capcom Frank Lien in Houston told Expedition 21 Commander Frank De Winne it might have originated with the Poisk module.
Gallery
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Diagram of the Poisk docking module -
Astronaut Jeffrey Williams and cosmonaut Maksim Suraev inspecting the Poisk module -
Poisk approaching the Space Station for docking -
Poisk after arriving at the ISS on 12 November 2009 -
Russian segment (Poisk at top center) of the ISS photographed by a STS-129 space-walking astronaut.
See also
References
- ^ "Docking Compartment-1 and 2". Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ NASA (05 June 2009). "ISS On-Orbit Status 06/05/09". Retrieved 11 November 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ NASA (10 June 2009). "ISS On-Orbit Status 06/10/09". Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "International Space Station". RSC Energia. June 16–17, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ NASA. "New Russian Module "Poisk" On Its Way to Station". Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "FAWG Planning Manifest" (Press release). NASA/NASASpaceflight.com. 2008-11-17.
{{cite press release}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "August 28, 2009. S.P.Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev, Moscow region". RSC Energia. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ Stephen Clark (10 November 2009). "Poisk launches to add new room for space station". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ New Russian module docks to station
- ^ William Harwood (19 November). "Crews awakened by false fire, depressurization alarms". Retrieved 20 November 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ William Harwood (20 November 2009). "Astronauts awakened a second night by false alarms". Retrieved 21 November 2009.
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