What is in news : Nauka meaning “science” in Russian is biggest space lab launched by Russia

Details :

• Nauka will replace Pirs, a Russian module on the International Space Station (ISS) used as a docking port for spacecraft and as a door for cosmonauts to go out on spacewalks
• Collaborative effort between five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada)
• Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 21 using a Proton rocket
• Scheduled to be integrated with the ISS soon
• On the ISS, Nauka will be attached to the critical Zvezda module, which provides all of the space station’s life support systems and serves as the structural and functional centre of the Russian Orbital Segment

FACTS

What kind of research goes on at the International Space Station: A space station is essentially a large spacecraft that remains in low-earth orbit for extended periods of time. It is like a large laboratory in space, and allows astronauts to come aboard and stay for weeks or months to carry out experiments in microgravity.