What is Nauka, the module Russia is sending to the International Space Station?

Source: Indian Express

What is the News?

Russia has launched the Nauka module from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Proton rocket.

About Nauka Module:

• Nauka is the Russian word for ‘Science’. It will serve as Russia’s main research facility on the International Space Station(ISS).
• The module will replace Pirs, a Russian module on the ISS used as a docking port for spacecraft and as a door for cosmonauts to go out on spacewalks.
• The module will bring to the ISS another oxygen generator, a spare bed, another toilet, and a robotic cargo crane built by the European Space Agency(ESA).
• On the ISS, Nauka will be attached to the critical Zvezda module, which provides all the space station’s life support systems and serves as the structural and functional center of the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) — the Russian part of ISS.
• Significance: The Nauka Module is the biggest space laboratory Russia has launched to date.

About International Space Station(ISS):

• The International Space Station(ISS) is a space station located in low Earth orbit.
• Participating agencies: It is a joint project between five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada).
• Aim: To serve as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields.