A Russian Spacecraft Pushed the Space Station Out of Position and Sent Astronauts Into Emergency Mode
Right so. This is what happens when you launch a module that was supposed to go up in 2007 and it finally docks 14 years later with software thats probably running on the computational equivalent of a Nokia 3310. The International Space Station did a backflip in space. An actual backflip. Let that sink in.
On July 29th 2021 Russias Nauka module successfully docked with the ISS after an eight-day journey from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 22-tonne laboratory module was supposed to be a proud moment for Roscosmos representing the first major expansion of the Russian segment in over a decade.
Then about three hours after docking everything went pear-shaped.
A software glitch caused Naukas thrusters to inexplicably begin firing. The module basically forgot it had already docked and started trying to pull away from the station. What followed was what NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville described as a tug of war between the errant module and the stations stabilization systems.
NASA initially reported the station tilted about 45 degrees. That was not accurate.
In subsequent interviews Scoville revealed the station actually spun one-and-a-half revolutions – about 540 degrees – before coming to a stop upside down. They then had to do a 180-degree forward flip to get back to the original orientation. NASA confirmed these numbers on Twitter days later after the more dramatic reality came out.
Yeehaw. That. Was. A. Day, Scoville tweeted on July 29th. He also noted hed never been so happy to see all solar arrays plus radiators still attached. Because apparently there was a real chance they might not be.
This was the first time in Scovilles career that he had to declare a spacecraft emergency. The seven crew members on board – two Russian cosmonauts three NASA astronauts a Japanese astronaut and a French European Space Agency astronaut – were apparently never in immediate danger according to NASA. The rotation was slow enough that they didnt even feel the station move. But the situation was absolutely tense.
Complex systems like solar arrays dont respond well to unexpected stress. The space station is essentially a massive fragile structure held together by hope engineering and international cooperation. Having it do gymnastics was not in anyones mission plan.
Communication with ground controllers was lost for 11 minutes during the incident. Eleven minutes of radio silence while a football-field-sized space station tumbles through orbit. Proper terrifying.
This is one of the more serious incidents in the 24-year history of the ISS, Jonathan McDowell an astrophysicist at Harvard-Smithsonian told reporters. The loss of attitude control in principle risks breakup of the complex.
Russian space officials blamed a short-term software failure. The thrusters fired because the control system mistakenly thought Nauka hadnt docked yet and was still trying to maneuver. Pretty significant bug for a piece of hardware thats been in development since the 1990s.
The irony is that Nauka which means science in Russian is supposed to serve as a research lab storage unit and airlock that upgrades Russias capabilities on the ISS. Instead its first contribution to science was demonstrating what happens when outdated software meets critical space infrastructure.
I have complete confidence in the Russians, Scoville told the New York Times after the incident. They are a fantastic partnership. Diplomatic of him given the circumstances.
The station is now in good shape and operating normally according to NASA. But somewhere in Houston theres probably a very tired flight controller who will never forget July 29th 2021.
Source: Space.com
