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PTK spacecraft to feature improved docking port Russia's new-generation spacecraft replacing Soyuz would be equipped with a lighter, wider and a more durable docking system, SSt, originally known as SLIYu.377116.001.
Comparison between the standard docking port on the Soyuz spacecraft (left) and the mechanism developed for the new-generation spacecraft, PTK. Copyright © 2015 Anatoly Zak
According to the Technical Project of the PTK spacecraft, completed in 2013, the new crew vehicle would be equipped with the Active Docking Mechanism, ASA, from the SSVP family, which would be used for docking and crew transfer with the Elements of the Lunar Orbital Infrastructure, ELOI, proposed within the Russian lunar exploration program at the time. (INSIDER CONTENT) The SSVP docking mechanism for the crew vehicle received a technical designation ASA SLIYu.374211.009. Under the circumlunar mission scenario, considered around 2015, the PTK spacecraft would also dock with an unmanned space tug in the Earth's orbit, which would then boost the spacecraft on a trajectory around the Moon. (As of 2015, the unmanned circumlunar mission was planned for as early as 2024, paving the way to a flight of the crew around 2025.) During the following expeditions to the Moon, the PTK NP spacecraft would first dock with the space tug in the Earth's orbit and then use the same port to link up with the lunar lander. Following the return of the lander from the surface of the Moon, PTK would make its third docking of the mission to provide transfer of the crew from the lunar module back into the PTK NP. With three docking operations during each of 10 missions, each mechanism could be in action in space for as many as 30 times. Reusable docking Unlike the Soyuz, where the docking port is discarded and burns up in the atmosphere along with the Habitation Module of the spacecraft at the end of each mission, the PTK spacecraft had its docking mechanism on the Return Vehicle, VA, which was designed for at least 10 flights. As a result, the veteran ASA drogue-and-cone mechanism would have to be certified to endure the reentry into the Earth's atmosphere with a second cosmic velocity (11.2 kilometers per second) upon the return from lunar missions with the rest of PTK's descent vehicle. To support the reuse of the docking mechanism, the titanium, heat-resistant alloys and some thermal protective materials were introduced into its structure. They were approved by the official Technical Decision, TR No. 372PE01-3/042-2015, issued on May 3, 2015. During its early missions in 2023 and 2024, the PTK spacecraft was expected to use the docking port to link up with the Russian segment of the International Space Station, ISS, or with the follow-on space station. Space station docking In August 2015, RKK Energia, the prime contractor in the PTK project, released specifications for a new docking port intended for the PTK spacecraft, which would enable the linkup of vehicles as heavy as 30 tons and equipped with any available rendezvous system. The new design promised to reduce loads during docking by as much as 30 percent. The new port also provided a wider transfer tunnel for the crew, which was previously available only on large space station modules. Around the same time, heaters and temperature sensors managed by the ship's Flight Control System, SUBK, (INSIDER CONTENT) were added to the docking port. (1091) In order to dock to the main axial or side passive hybrid docking ports of the Prichal Node Module, UM, without their original cone extension, required the development of a new ASA docking mechanism for PTK, which received designation 372PE01.80Yu7000-0. Its development was ordered via a separate Technical Assignment TZ.0064.041-372PE01. The new ASA mechanism was to be attached to the Return Vehicle via a special adapter. Also, the cover of the transfer hatch within the mechanism was equipped with a pipeline to drain water from its bowl-shaped upper cavity after a potential water landing. These changes led to mass and size increases in the overall SSt docking system from 232 kilograms to 320.7 kilograms not counting the mass of associated cables. (1107) As a result, the decision was made to replace the SLIYu.374211.009 mechanism with the 372PE01.80Yu7000-0 variant. PTK Federatsiya redesigned for multiple docking ports In 2018, RKK Energia also redesigned the top structure of the Command Compartment, KO, a part of the Return Vehicle, to make possible the ship's visits to the international gateway in the lunar orbit in addition to trips to the Earth's orbiting space station.
Known specifications of the new-generation docking port (design code: 372PE01.80Yu7000-0):
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