The sudden activation of engines of Russia's Nauka multipurpose laboratory module at the International Space Station (ISS) was triggered by a software failure that was quickly fixed, Russia's ISS segment chief, Vladimir Solovyov, explained on Friday.

"The mechanic aspect of the docking was reliable, without any remarks registered. This resulted in the closure of both docking mechanisms: the station and the module. Due to a short-term software failure, a direct command was mistakenly executed to turn on the module's engines for withdrawal, which entailed some modification of the orientation of the complex as a whole", Solovyov said.

This was quickly fixed by engines of Russia's Zvezda module, the official recalled.

"At the moment, the station is in its normal orientation, all the ISS and multipurpose laboratory module systems are operating normally. A reliable internal power and command interface was created, as well as a power supply interface, which connected the module to the station," Solovyov concluded.

The Nauka module was launched to the ISS from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan onboard a Proton-M carrier rocket and successfully docked with the ISS on Thursday.

Later, Russian cosmonauts reported that Nauka's engines had unexpectedly activated, which led to a change in the position of the station. The ISS engines had to be switched on in order to compensate for the operation of the Nauka engines.

Source: RIA Novosti

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Russia's Nauka science module docks with ISS
Moscow (AFP) July 29, 2021
Russia said it successfully docked the Nauka laboratory module with the International Space Station on Thursday - though the troubled unit caused yet another fright after accidentally firing and briefly throwing the entire station out of position. The mission comes after more than a decade of delays and as Russia seeks to boost its space industry, which has fallen behind since the collapse of the Soviet Union and struggles to keep up with competition from the United States. A few hours after d ... read more