Nauka Module: "EMPOWER IAS"

What is the News?

• Russia has launched the Nauka module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Proton rocket.

 

About Nauka Module:

• Nauka means Science in Russian. This is Russia's most ambitious research facility in space and is fitted with an oxygen generator, robotic cargo crane, a toilet and a bed for Russian astronauts.
• This was sent into orbit using a Proton rocket (family of rockets in Russia - the most powerful in Russia’s space inventory) and will take eight days to reach the ISS.
• During this period, engineers and flight controllers will test Nauka in space, and prepare for its arrival on the space station.
• It will replace Pirs, and will be attached to the critical Zvezda module, which provides all of the space station’s life support systems and serves as the structural and functional centre of the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS).
• Pirs has been part of the space station since September 2001, functioning as a docking port for Russian visiting spacecraft and an airlock for Russian spacewalks.

 

Significance:

• It will increase the habitable volume of the ISS to 70 cubic Metres. Cosmonauts will use the extra space to conduct experiments and to store cargo.
• Nauka will serve as a new science facility, docking port, and spacewalk airlock for future operations.
• For more than 20 years, people have been carrying out research under microgravity conditions which is not possible on earth, this module will help augment the ongoing research.
• Research is being carried out in various disciplines such as, biology, human physiology, and physical, material and space science.
• Research is being carried out in various disciplines such as, biology, human physiology, and physical, material and space science.

 

 International Space Station (ISS)

• The International Space Station, which launched its first piece in 1998, is a large spacecraft that orbits around the Earth and is home to the astronauts.
• The ISS is currently the only active space station in the earth’s orbit.
• The first crew on the space station arrived on November 2, 2000.
• The space station is home to a minimum of six astronauts, with two bathrooms, a gymnasium, and a big bay window.
• It is a joint project between five participating space agencies -NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada)