Russia's Nauka, the country's science module, removed the cargo ship Progress MS-17 so that new modules could dock in the International Space Station.
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The departure of the rocket happened on Thursday, Nov. 24. Now, a new docking port is expected to arrive at the international space laboratory to welcome its replacement.
This shows that Russia is leveling up its space industry, which other countries are also doing right now. With the current space race further expanding, many government-backed space agencies and independent space companies are making their own efforts to have more efficient space missions.
Recently, TechTimes reported that China's space program plans to launch a new powerful nuclear reactor outside the planet. This tech is expected to make the country's Mars missions more efficient.
Russia's Nauka Removes a Cargo Ship
According to Space.com's latest report, the Progress MS-17 left Russia's Nauka at exactly 6:22 a.m. on Nov. 14. This rocket is expected to be destroyed or burned as it enters Earth's atmosphere.
On the other hand, Anton Shkaplerov, a Russian cosmonaut, confirmed that there a replacement space module is already being prepared by the country.
"The space station is ready to receive the Prichal module! The #ProgressMS17 undocked from the Nauka module, vacating the docking port for the Node Module," said the astronaut via his latest Twitter post.
The @Space_Station is ready to receive the #Prichal module!
— Anton Shkaplerov (@Anton_Astrey) November 25, 2021
The #ProgressMS17 undocked from the Nauka module, vacating the docking port for the Node Module. The Progress has removed a docking unit adapter, which ensured docking of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft with the Nauka. pic.twitter.com/R9JWpxuNFN
He added that Progress MS-17 left the space module and removed a docking unit adapter used to dock Soyuz in Russia's Nauka module. You can view this link to see more details.
Replacement of Progress MS-17
The upcoming space module to replace Progress MS-17 is the so-called Prichal, which is a 4-ton compartment, which has six docking ports.
It would use these ports to connect with Russia's Nauka module this coming Nov. 26. On the other hand, its remaining five docking ports would allow more space laboratories of the country in the near future.
In other news, Blue Origin NS-19 confirms new passengers.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
