The new Russian Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2), also known as Poisk, launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Tuesday at 9:22 a.m. EST. Thursday at 10:44 a.m., the MRM2 will dock to the space-facing port of the Zvezda service module. Poisk is a Russian term that translates to search, seek and explore.
IMAGES: PHOTO GALLERIES OF SOYUZ AND POISK ON OUR FORUMS FREE VIDEOS: WATCH VIDEO: PRELAUNCH AND LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS WATCH VIDEO: PROGRESS M-MRM2 LAUNCH WATCH VIDEO: ROLLOUT TO THE LAUNCH PAD WATCH VIDEO: PRELAUNCH INTEGRATION AND PROCESSING WATCH VIDEO: MRM-2 MISSION OVERVIEW WATCH VIDEO: LAUNCH WEBCAST (NO SOUND) ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: DOWNLOAD VIDEO: PROGRESS M-MRM2 LAUNCH DOWNLOAD VIDEO: PRELAUNCH AND LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS DOWNLOAD VIDEO: MRM-2 MISSION OVERVIEW DOWNLOAD VIDEO: PRELAUNCH INTEGRATION AND PROCESSING DOWNLOAD VIDEO: ROLLOUT TO THE LAUNCH PAD DOWNLOAD VIDEO: LAUNCH WEBCAST (NO SOUND) The module was launched attached to a modified Progress spacecraft, called Progress M-MRM2, on a Soyuz-U rocket from Launch Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. About nine minutes after launch, the three-stage Soyuz rocket delivered Poisk, to a low-altitude injection orbit. The Progress ship provides electrical power and propulsion for the Poisk module during its two-day journey to the space station. The Progress spacecraft will fire its engines twice later today to initiate altering its orbit prior to docking with the station. On 12 November, Progress will begin its automated final approach to the station on a Kurs rendezvous radar system. Docking to the Zvezda module by the Poisk is currently targeted for November 12 at 15:44 UTC. Poisk will provide an additional docking port for visiting Russian spacecraft. It also will serve as an extra airlock for spacewalkers wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits. 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. The mass of the module is 4,000 kg. It has a diameter of 2.6 m and length of 4.6, providing 12.5 cubic meters of internal volume. The crew habitable volume aboard Poisk is 380 cubic-feet. Poisk carried 2,204 pounds of cargo to the ISS including new Russian Orlan spacesuits, science equipment and life support equipment. At about the same time Poisk launched, the Expedition 21 crew was performing a Kazbek seat check inside the Soyuz TMA-15 docked to Zarya’s Earth-facing port. Some crew members were also tagging up with specialists on the ground discussing cargo transfers when space shuttle Atlantis arrives at the International Space Station on Nov. 18. The station crew and flight controllers are still analyzing the operation of the Urine Processing Assembly. Troubleshooting over the weekend allowed the system to run again but it is not up to full functionality yet as flight controllers monitor its activities. Science continued aboard the orbiting laboratory with blood and urine samples being drawn and stored in the Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), a science freezer that preserves biological samples for study on Earth. Colloid samples were photographed in an experiment that observes their structure over time to prove their use for the manufacture of stronger, more efficient materials on Earth. A Russian Earth-observation experiment that monitors radiation in the ionosphere was also under way.
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