Mini-Research Module 2
Encyclopedia
Poisk also known as the Mini-Research Module
Mini-Research Module
International Space Station modules* Mini-Research Module 1 * Mini-Research Module 2 Other research modules of the Russian Orbital Segment:* Multipurpose Laboratory Module * Russian Research Modules...

 2
(MRM 2), , or МИМ 2, is a docking module of the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

. Its original name was Docking Module 2 ( (SO-2)), as it is almost identical to the Pirs Docking Compartment. Poisk was the first major Russian addition to the International Space Station since 2001.

Details

Poisk docked to the zenith
Zenith
The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, i.e...

 port of the Zvezda module on November 12, 2009, and will serve as an additional docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and as an airlock for spacewalks. Poisk will also provide extra space for scientific experiments, and provide power-supply outlets and data-transmission interfaces for two external scientific payloads to be developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

.

Two spacewalks conducted from the ISS in June 2009, successfully completed activities anticipating Poisk module's future berthing.

On 5 June 2009, during Russian Orlan EVA-22 spacewalk Expedition 19/20 Commander Gennady Padalka
Gennady Padalka
Gennady Ivanovich Padalka is a Russian Air Force officer and an RSA cosmonaut. As of June 2010, Gennady ranks sixth for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the International Space Station....

 and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt installed two Kurs
Kurs (docking system)
Kurs is a radio telemetry system used by the Soviet and later Russian space program.Kurs was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments before 1985 and manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory .- History :...

 docking antennas, a docking target and electrical connectors on the exterior of Zvezda's Service Module.

On June 10, 2009, during Russian Orlan EVA-23 spacewalk Padalka and Barratt replaced a flat hatch cover in the forward section of Zvezda with a standard conical docking cone cover to allow for Poisk's docking.

On January 14, 2010, cosmonauts Oleg Kotov
Oleg Kotov
Oleg Valeriyevich Kotov was born October 27, 1965, in Simferopol, Crimean oblast in Ukrainian SSR. After a career as a military pilot, he joined the Russian cosmonaut corps. He has flown two long duration spaceflight on the International Space Station logging just short of a year in space...

 and Maksim Suraev conducted a spacewalk to outfit the Poisk module to prepare for receiving Soyuz and Progress ships in the future. They deployed antennas and a docking target, installed two handrails and plugged the new module's Kurs antennas into the Kurs docking system circuitry. The spacewalk lasted five hours and 44 minutes.

On January 21, 2010, the module was first used when cosmonaut Suraev and Expedition 22
Expedition 22
Expedition 22 was the 22nd long duration crew flight to the International Space Station . This expedition began in November 2009 when the Expedition 21 crew departed. For a period of 3 weeks, there were only 2 crew members; it was the first time that had happened since STS-114 had delivered a third...

 Commander Jefferey Williams relocated their Soyuz TMA-16
Soyuz TMA-16
The Soyuz TMA-16 was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station . It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching...

 spacecraft from the aft port of the Zvezda module to the zenith-facing port of the Poisk module. The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda service module at 10:03 UTC and backed away to a distance of about 100 feet from the space station. Undocking occurred as the station flew about 213 miles high off the southwest coast of Africa. Re-docking occurred at 10:24 UTC after Suraev fired the Soyuz maneuvering thrusters to fly halfway around the orbiting space station and line up with the Poisk module.

Design and construction

The module was designed and built by S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
OAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia , also known as RKK Energiya, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components...

, the leading organization engaged in the development and operational use of the ISS Russian segment.

Launch in 2009

The module was launched on November 10, 2009, 2:22 p.m. GMT attached to a modified Progress spacecraft
Progress spacecraft
The Progress is a Russian expendable freighter spacecraft. The spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft during its flight but upon docking with a space station, it allows astronauts inside, hence it is classified manned by the manufacturer. It was derived from the Soyuz spacecraft, and is...

, called Progress M-MIM2
Progress M-MIM2
Progress M-MIM2 , or Progress M-MRM2, originally designated Progress M-SO2, was a modified Progress-M spacecraft which was used to deliver the Poisk module to the International Space Station. It was based on the Progress-M 11F615A55 spacecraft, with the pressurised cargo module removed to...

, on a Soyuz-U
Soyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....

 rocket from Launch Pad 1
Gagarin's Start
Gagarin's Start is a launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, used for the Soviet space program and now managed by the Russian Federal Space Agency....

 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...

 in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

. The occasion also marked the 1750th launch of a Soyuz rocket in its various configurations. About eight minutes after launch, the three-stage Soyuz rocket delivered Poisk, to a low-altitude injection orbit. According to NASA Poisk carried about 1800 pounds of cargo to the ISS including new Russian Orlan spacesuits, life support equipment, medical supplies and crew hygiene items.

The Progress space tug provided electrical power and propulsion for the Poisk module during its two-day journey to the space station. On 12 November, Progress began its automated final approach to the station on a Kurs rendezvous radar system and at 15:41 UTC Poisk docked to the Zvezda module's zenith port. The docking happened as the space station sailed more than 220 miles over northern Kazakhstan.

Cosmonauts Maksim Suraev and Roman Romanenko
Roman Romanenko
Roman Yurievich Romanenko is a cosmonaut at the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.-Personal life:His parents, Yuri Victorovich Romanenko and Aleftina Ivanovna Romanenko, live in Star City. He is married to Yulia Leonidovna Romanenko . They have one son...

 entered the module for the first time by opening the hatch leading into Poisk at 12:17 UTC on 13 November 2009.

The jettisoning of the Progress ship from the Poisk module happened around 8 December 2009. The Progress was destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere.

Specifications

Designation 240GK No. 2L
Launch mass 3670 kg ± 50 kg
Maximum hull diameter 2.55 m
Hull length between docking assembly planes 4.049 m
Pressurized volume 14.8 m3
Habitable volume 10.7 m3
Number of egress hatches (open inward) 2
Egress hatch diameter 1 m
Mass of delivered cargoes up to 1000 kg

False depressurization alarm

False alarms woke the crews aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the Space Station at 01:36 UTC on 20 November 2009 and once again at 02:53 UTC on 21 November. An erroneous indication of a rapid depressurization led to the automatic shutdown of ventilation fans throughout the station, which stirred up dust and led to a false smoke detection alarm in the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory. Mission control Capcom Frank Lien in Houston told Expedition 21
Expedition 21
Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station . The expedition began on 30 September 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission....

 Commander Frank De Winne
Frank De Winne
Frank, Viscount De Winne is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space . He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission when he served as commander of ISS Expedition 21.-Education:De Winne graduated in 1979 from the Royal School of Cadets...

 it might have originated with the Poisk module.

Visited spacecraft

The following Table shows the spacecraft that have linked up with the Poisk Module
Spacecraft Docking Undocking
Soyuz TMA-16
Soyuz TMA-16
The Soyuz TMA-16 was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station . It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching...

 
January 21, 2010
5:24 a.m. EST
March 18, 2010
8:03 UTC
Soyuz TMA-18
Soyuz TMA-18
Soyuz TMA-18 was a 2010 Soyuz flight to the International Space Station. TMA-18 was the 105th manned flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since the first manned flight in 1967.- Crew :- Backup crew :- Launch :...

 
April 4, 2010
5:25 UTC
September 25, 2010
02:02 UTC
Soyuz TMA-01M
Soyuz TMA-01M
- Backup crew :- Spacecraft :Soyuz TMA-01M is the first spacecraft of the new modernized Soyuz TMA-M series, developed and built by RKK Energia as an upgrade of the baseline Soyuz-TMA, which has been in use since 2002. 36 obsolete pieces of equipment have been replaced with 19 new-generation...

 
October 10, 2010
00:01 UTC
March 16, 2011
Planned

See also

  • Scientific research on the ISS
    Scientific research on the ISS
    Scientific Research on the International Space Station is a collection of experiments that require one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit. The primary fields of research include human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology...

  • Rassvet (ISS module)
    Rassvet (ISS module)
    Rassvet , also known as the Mini-Research Module 1 and formerly known as the Docking Cargo Module , is a component of the International Space Station . The module's design is similar to the Mir Docking Module launched on STS-74 in 1995. Rassvet is primarily used for cargo storage and as a docking...

  • Russian Orbital Segment
    Russian Orbital Segment
    The Russian Orbital Segment is the name given to the components of the International Space Station constructed in Russia and operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK