Article Posted on : - Nov 11, 2009

The Soyuz rocket carrying Poisk, Russia's newest module, launches from Kazakhstan. Image credit: NASA TV

BAIKONUR (BNS): Russia’s new Mini-Research Module (MRM2) blasted off on board a Soyuz carrier rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

The launch took place at 17:22 Moscow time (14:22 GMT), federal space agency Roscosmos said. The Progress-M space freighter with the research module, also called ‘Poisk’, separated from the rocket nine minutes later, it said.

The unmanned module, with a payload of about 700 kg, is scheduled to automatically dock with the ISS on Thursday.

The MRM-2 will be the fourth module which will be used to carry out 10 new experiments at the Zvezda module and the Pirs docking station on the Russian segment of the orbital station.

It will also carry out scientific experiments, besides providing additional docking port for spacecraft and an airlock for spacewalks, the space agency said.