Space Station Shaken by Russian Module... NASA Postpones Boeing Spacecraft Test Launch

Sudden Reignition of Propulsion Engine During Docking...Brief Orbit Deviation
Boeing's Manned Capsule Test Launch Postponed to After the 3rd of Next Month

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Russian multipurpose science and research laboratory module 'Nauka' caused the International Space Station (ISS) to temporarily deviate from its orbit and shake violently during docking. Although the incident was quickly resolved, NASA decided to postpone the scheduled test flight of Boeing's spacecraft.

According to NASA on the 29th (local time), Nauka docked with the ISS at an altitude of 400 km above Earth just eight days after its launch. However, immediately after docking, the propulsion engine unexpectedly reignited, causing the ISS to tilt about 45 degrees from its normal attitude and temporarily deviate from its orbit. Fortunately, the ISS regained its normal position after the emergency activation of the reverse thrusters on other modules.

NASA announced that it postponed the unmanned test flight of Boeing's crew capsule 'CST-100 Starliner' to the ISS, originally scheduled for the 30th, due to this incident. NASA stated, "After Nauka docked with the ISS, there was an unplanned activation of the MLM thrusters. The crew aboard the ISS is not in danger, and flight controllers in Houston are monitoring the status of the space station."

According to AFP, preparations were even made to activate SpaceX's 'Crew-2 Dragon' capsule docked at the ISS for emergency evacuation of astronauts. During this process, communication between ground control and astronauts was briefly interrupted twice, but NASA reported that there was no immediate danger.

NASA has not yet determined the cause of the unintended activation of the Nauka module's propulsion system and added that the unmanned test flight of the Starliner has been postponed to at least after the 3rd of next month to investigate the issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.