Russia's Nauka, the country's science module, removed the cargo ship Progress MS-17 so that new modules could dock in the International Space Station.

Russia Nauka Removes a Cargo Ship to Make Room for More Space Modules! Replacement to Arrive
(Photo : Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard takes off during the Demo-1 mission, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 2, 2019. - SpaceX's new Crew Dragon astronaut capsule was on its way to the International Space Station Saturday, March 2, 2019, after it successfully launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket. With only a dummy named Ripley on board.

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The departure of the rocket happened on Thursday, Nov. 24. Now, a new docking port is expected to arrive at the international space laboratory to welcome its replacement.

This shows that Russia is leveling up its space industry, which other countries are also doing right now. With the current space race further expanding, many government-backed space agencies and independent space companies are making their own efforts to have more efficient space missions.

Recently, TechTimes reported that China's space program plans to launch a new powerful nuclear reactor outside the planet. This tech is expected to make the country's Mars missions more efficient.

Russia's Nauka Removes a Cargo Ship

According to Space.com's latest report, the Progress MS-17 left Russia's Nauka at exactly 6:22 a.m. on Nov. 14. This rocket is expected to be destroyed or burned as it enters Earth's atmosphere.

Russia Nauka Removes a Cargo Ship to Make Room for More Space Modules! Replacement to Arrive
(Photo : Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
In this NASA handout image, A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched from Launch Complex 39A on NASAs SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-2 mission is the first launch.

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On the other hand, Anton Shkaplerov, a Russian cosmonaut, confirmed that there a replacement space module is already being prepared by the country.

"The space station is ready to receive the Prichal module! The #ProgressMS17 undocked from the Nauka module, vacating the docking port for the Node Module," said the astronaut via his latest Twitter post.

He added that Progress MS-17 left the space module and removed a docking unit adapter used to dock Soyuz in Russia's Nauka module. You can view this link to see more details.

Replacement of Progress MS-17

The upcoming space module to replace Progress MS-17 is the so-called Prichal, which is a 4-ton compartment, which has six docking ports. 

It would use these ports to connect with Russia's Nauka module this coming Nov. 26. On the other hand, its remaining five docking ports would allow more space laboratories of the country in the near future. 

In other news, Blue Origin NS-19 confirms new passengers. 

For more news updates about Russia's space activities and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.  

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Written by: Griffin Davis

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