Rocket with new module for space station blasts off

November 10, 2009 Scientists prepare the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2) "Poisk"

Scientists prepare the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2) "Poisk" for flight at Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on November 3. A Soyuz rocket carrying the new Russian-made module for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan.

A Soyuz rocket carrying a new Russian-made module for the International Space Station blasted off on Tuesday from the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan, television pictures showed.

The Poisk (Search) module, also known as the Mini-Research Module 2, will provide additional facilities for scientific experiments aboard the orbiting space station, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

Russian news agencies quoted the space agency as saying that the launch had been successful, and state television images showed the rocket flying smoothly into the night sky.

The unmanned Progress spacecraft carrying the new module, along with food and water supplies, is due to dock with the ISS on Thursday at 1544 GMT.

Rate this story - 5 /5 (1 vote)

rank
1
2
3
4
5

view popular

Other News

Astronauts gear up for 2nd spacewalk of mission

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

1hour ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- An astronaut is gearing up for the first spacewalk of his career while awaiting the imminent birth of his daughter.

Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

22 hours ago | 4.7 / 5 (10) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system.

More than 18 million cubic metres of sand are set to be poured onto the new coastal band of dunes until 2011

Dutch build more dunes against rising seas

Space & Earth / Environment

18 hours ago | 4.3 / 5 (6) | 0

On the beach at Monster, bulldozers painstakingly turn sand dredged from the bottom of the North Sea bed into dunes in an ambitious effort to safeguard the Netherlands from flooding.

New Method to Measure Snow, Soil Moisture With GPS May Benefit Meteorologists, Farmers

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

17 hours ago | not rated yet | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected ...

Astronauts await word of baby girl on Earth

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

19 hours ago | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- Atlantis' astronauts anxiously awaited word on the birth of one crewman's daughter Friday, as they moved more supplies into the International Space Station and geared up for another spacewalk.