Russian Soyuz Spacecraft Carrying Humanoid Robot Aborts Docking at Space Station

[Elderberry]

Space.com by Tariq Malik 8/24/2019

An uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft was forced to abort an attempted docking at the International Space Station early Saturday (Aug. 24) due to rendezvous system malfunction.

The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft, which is carrying supplies and a humanoid  robot called Skybot F-850, was on its final approach to the space station when its automated docking system failed to lock on to its intended docking port: a space-facing module called Poisk. Cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, the station's commander, triggered an abort command for the Soyuz at 1:36 a.m. EDT (0536 GMT) after multiple attempts to make the rendezvous with primary and backup systems failed.

"At no point was the crew in any danger," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said of the station's six-person Expedition 60 crew during live commentary.

The Soyuz is now trailing the space station at a safe distance away in a so-called "race track orbit" that can allow additional docking attempts every 24 hours, Navias said. The next attempt will occur no earlier than overnight Sunday or early Monday (Aug. 25-26).

Docking abort

Roscosmos flight controllers suspect that a bad signal amplifier on the station's Kurs rendezvous system may have led to the docking abort. They've asked Ovchinin and his fellow cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov to replace the amplifier in the hopes that solves the problem.

More: https://www.space.com/soyuz-aborts-space-station-docking-ms-14.html

[Cyber Liberty]

They'd better hope the problem is onboard the Station.

[Elderberry]

They'd better hope the problem is onboard the Station.

Why? The article stated the spacecraft was uncrewed, but that was not totally correct.

A humanoid robot named Skybot F-850 is onboard. Skybot may be able to correct the docking problem.

[Cyber Liberty]

Why? The article stated the spacecraft was uncrewed, but that was not totally correct.

A humanoid robot named Skybot F-850 is onboard. Skybot may be able to correct the docking problem.

It would still be an expensive loss, that unmanned cargo ship.  And whatever other supplies were on board.  That's what I meant.

[Elderberry]

They can retrieve the supplies that aren't damaged by a vacuum by retrieving them with an "EVA Commissary Working Party".

[Elderberry]

https://spacenews.com/uncrewed-soyuz-aborts-iss-docking/

The problem, Russian flight controllers said, appears to be a problem with the Kurs automated docking system on the ISS, and not a problem with the Soyuz spacecraft itself. Roscosmos, in a brief statement after the aborted docking, said that the agency’s leader, Dmitry Rogozin, chaired a meeting to discuss the problem and determine what to do, but provided few additional details about the problem.

Original plans called for cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Alexander Skvortsov to replace a signal amplifier unit on the Kurs over the weekend, and prepare for another docking attempt Aug. 26. However, in a series of English-language tweets later in the day Aug. 24, Roscosmos said the next docking attempt will be pushed back to Aug. 27.

Instead, Skvortsov will board the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft currently docked to the station’s Zvezda module Aug. 26 and manually dock it to the Poisk module. That will free up the Zvezda module’s port for a new docking attempt by Soyuz MS-14. “The situation is complicated, however [it] is under control,” Roscosmos stated.

The delayed docking doesn’t pose an issue for the station or its crew, in part because this Soyuz spacecraft carried no one on board. The flight, the first uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft flight since the Soyuz TM-1 mission to the Mir space station in 1986, was intended to test the use of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle for launching Soyuz spacecraft, as Russia seeks to phase out the older Soyuz-FG rocket that it has been using for crewed missions by 2020.

[Elderberry]

Soyuz docks with ISS on second attempt

https://spacenews.com/soyuz-docks-with-iss-on-second-attempt/

Space News by Jeff Foust — August 27, 2019

An uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Aug. 26, nearly 72 hours after aborting its original attempt to dock with the station.

The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft docked with the aft port on the Zvezda service module at 11:08 p.m. Eastern. Flight controllers reported no issues with the automated docking of the spacecraft on a rare uncrewed test flight.

More at link

[Cyber Liberty]

Soyuz docks with ISS on second attempt

https://spacenews.com/soyuz-docks-with-iss-on-second-attempt/

Space News by Jeff Foust — August 27, 2019

Excellent news, @Elderberry!