The International Space Station just got bigger!
Ruscosmos, the Russian space agency, just docked a new module to the ISS. The module is called Nauka, which is the Russian word for science. This long-delayed module has a lot of scientific equipment, a galley, sleeping quarters, and life-support equipment all contained within it's 70 cubic meters of pressurized volume. In addition, The European Robotic Arm was launched attached to Nauka.
Nauka launched on the 21st of July, 2021 on a Proton rocket. After some minor delays, Nauka docked on July 29th, 2021. This November, Ruscosmos will launch another module to the ISS, Prichal, a docking hub. This module may someday form the core of a new space station.
Pirs
In order to make room for Nauka, Russia had to discard Pirs, one of the first modules added to the ISS. It launched on September 15th, 2021, and docked to the ISS the next day. It's original purpose was to act as a docking compartment and allow for the easy transfer of fuel between resupply vessels and the station. It has also acted as an airlock for astronauts performing spacewalks. Pirs was undocked from the space station attached to an uncrewed cargo spacecraft on July 26th. It burned up in the athmosphere over the Pacific Ocean a few hours later. Pirs is the first permanent ISS module to be discarded.
Pirs has one docking port on each side, and two hatches that can be used by astronauts during spacewalks. The Pirs module had about 13 cubic meters (460 cubic feet) of interior volume, which is a little less than half the volume of a standard 20 foot shipping container.
During Pirs' 20 years on the ISS, 70 spacecraft have docked with it, and 53 spacewalks have used Pirs' as an airlock.
Another major event that will be occurring on the ISS soon is the unmanned test flight of the Boeing Starliner. In order for NASA astronauts to be allowed to fly on Starliner, the spacecraft must first successfully launch, dock with the ISS, and return to Earth safely. Boeing will try for a second time to meet all of these milestones as part of Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2). OFT-2 will launch on July 30th, 2021 and last about 8 days. Orbital Flight Test 1 took place in 2019, but was unable to dock with the ISS due to multiple computer issues, so Boeing decided to redo it.
My page about the ISS: https://cosmic-technology.wixsite.com/cosmictechnology/the-international-space-station