Prichal module (UM, Progress-M-UM)

Structural diagram of the Prichal module and attached Progress vehicle.

Shkaplerov and Dubrov outfitted Nauka and Prichal modules, to integrate with the ISS.

Description:

• Prichal nodal module also known as Uzlovoy Module or UM, Nodal Module, is a Russian spacecraft which is part of the International Space Station (ISS). It was approved in 2011 and was launched on 24 November 2021.
• Originally, the nodal module was intended to serve as the only permanent element of the future Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex (OPSEK). This was a proposed Russian space station, intended to support deep space human exploration missions to Mars, possibly the Moon, and Saturn. It was planned to be partially constructed in orbit, while attached to the ISS. Prichal, with its six docking ports, would have served as the only permanent element of OPSEK, while other modules would come and go as their life span and mission required. In September 2017, Roscosmos stated that there "no plans to separate the Russian segment from the ISS". This ended public OPSEK plans.
• In the mid-2000s, RKK Energia, the manufacturer of the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) components, added the Uzlovoy Module (UM) to the future configuration of the ISS. The proposal involves the addition of a Nodal Module (a significant modification of the Universal Docking Module (UDM) design, increasing the number of docking ports from 4 to 6 and taking into account its location at the Nauka nadir and at the same reducing its weight from 20 tons to 4 tons, partly by removing the additional life-support system and adding two additional science/energy modules to the segment around 2013-2015. These plans were tabled, due to Nauka delays. Since the refurbishment of the Nauka module, the Uzlovoy module is now the Prichal module.

Prichal module flyaround before docking.

Prichal module docking with Nauka.

Mission details:

• On Nov 24, 2021 Russia launched the Uzlovoy Modul (UM No. 1L, the ′node module′), named `Prichal'. Prichal has a mass of 4650 kg including about 580 kg of cargo. It is attached to a modified Progress, Progress M-UM No. 303, which has the normal Progress/Soyuz propulsion section and an adapter docked to Prichal. The UM/Progress vehicle docked with Nauka SSVP-M port at 1519 UTC on Nov 26. The Progress will undock later to expose the UM′s main docking port.
• At 2303 UTC on Dec 22, 2021 the Progress M-UM tug undocked from the Prichal module (which it delivered to the ISS on Nov 26). Progress M-UM was then deorbited with reentry over the South Pacific at 0430 UTC Dec 23.
  
  

  Forward view of Nauka and Prichal from the Cupola, during the Russian VKD-51 spacewalk in january 2022..

External links:

• Nasa Spaceflight: 211126-Russia′s Prichal module attached to station
• Russian Spaceweb: Prichal module
• Wikipedia: Module Information