The International Space Station has run out of “parking spots” for the first time in its history
The HERA logo on board the ISS, Photo: European Space Agency
It's getting crowded in low Earth orbit, with a record number of spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS), while a total of 10 astronauts have occupied the orbiting laboratory, reports Gizmodo.
NASA revealed in a statement that for the first time since the ISS began operating 25 years ago, all eight docking ports of the space station were occupied. The “house” was filled as Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL capsule reattached to the ISS. It had been temporarily moved aside by a robotic arm to make way for the arrival of a crew of three astronauts last week.
The eight spacecraft currently docked at the ISS are: two SpaceX Dragon vehicles, Cygnus XL, JAXA's (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-X1, two Roscosmos crewed Soyuz spacecraft, and two Progress cargo ships.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev arrived at the space station on November 27 aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft for an eight-month mission. Prior to the arrival of the Soyuz crew capsule, NASA mission control used the Canadarm 2 robotic arm to move Northrop Grumman's Cygnus-23 cargo ship for the docking of the astronaut crew.
One of the ISS's docking ports became vacant on Monday
Northrop Grumman's disposable transporter was later reattached to the ISS, where it will remain in orbit until March 2026. The capsule is loaded with nearly 5,000 kilograms of junk and useless cargo, which will eventually be discarded and disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere.
Russia's second docking capsule, Soyuz MS-27, brought NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky back to Earth on Monday, when one of the ISS's docking ports became virtually free. The Soyuz spacecraft has landed in Kazakhstan.
As Soyuz MS-27 returned to Earth, it is unclear when Russia will be able to launch another craft to the ISS. After the launch of Soyuz MS-28, a structure collapsed on the launch pad of Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This is the only Russian launch site capable of sending astronauts and cargo to the ISS, and is currently decommissioned until the damage is repaired.
