![]() ![]() At that point, we'll use the laptop to talk to the Russian module, wake it up. "(The) station arm swings it all the way over the whole of the belly of station, all the way over, and holds it above a docking port on the Russian side. Sellers is overseeing the mission's payloads and will be working alongside robot arm operator Reisman during the installation. But because it wasn't designed to do this, neither the arm nor the module, a lot of smart people have been working really, really hard on it and they're convinced that it's going to work." "Nobody really knows if this is going to work which makes it really interesting, so you should stay tuned to see what happens. Getting Rassvet firmly connected to the space station using the robotic arm is something that shuttle astronaut Garrett Reisman says will be unusually tricky. The 18,000-pound module is equipped with the same type of capture probe on its nose that free-flying Soyuz capsules and Progress cargo ships use for docking to the cone-like receptacles on the station. ![]() ![]() MRM 1 also provides the additional docking port in order to perform the docking of Russian vehicles," said Mikhail Kashitsyn, deputy general designer at Energia. "MRM 1 is designed for scientific research, it is not for EVA. Unlike similar modules - the Pirs and Poisk - already at the space station that serve as both docking ports and airlocks for Russian-based spacewalks, the new Rassvet will have a different role. NASA has packed 3,000 pounds of equipment, spare parts, food and provisions inside Rassvet for shipment to the station. The space shuttle ride for the module was arranged through an international bartering agreement. ![]() It's converted from a previous piece of hardware that they had lying around so they've been busy making that for the last couple years. "The Russian company, Energia, has been making that. It's like a standoff," said Atlantis astronaut Piers Sellers. It's a bit cylindrical and when it's plunked onto the bottom of station it'll basically have a docking port that's much lower than the rest of the bulk of station so the vehicles can come in and dock without getting into this little zone of other hardware on station. "It's about the size of a small Winnebago. Rassvet will be attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya control module, the original piece of the space station launched in November 1998. But it's also the first station flight that we are launching Russian partner hardware." "It is the last payload flight for Atlantis. "It is bittersweet," said Robbie Ashley, the payload mission manager at Kennedy Space Center. will haul to the International Space Station.īut the mission also carries with it the significance of being shuttle Atlantis' final flight before retirement. The Mini Research Module 1, also known as Rassvet, is the first and only major piece of Russian hardware that the U.S. Russian payload nestled into Atlantis' bay for launchĪ new Russian module for the International Space Station that will double as a docking compartment and a room for science has been loaded aboard the space shuttle Atlantis at the launch pad 39A for the scheduled May 14 blastoff. Spaceflight Now | STS-132 Shuttle Report | Russian payload nestled into Atlantis' bay for launch ![]()
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