ShK

ShK (berthed to MLM-U) [NASA]

ShK (stored at MRM 1) [NASA]

The ShK (Shlyuzovaya Kamera) is an experiment airlock module of the International space station ISS.

The Shk airlock can accommodate a cargo up to 1,200 mm × 500 mm × 500 mm, with a volume of 2.1 m3, weight of 1050 kg, and peak power consumption of 1.5 kW.

It is designed to be used for:

• for extracting payloads from the MLM docking adapter and placing them on the outer surface of the station;
• to enable science studies to be removed, exposed to the external microgravity environment, and then restored inside while being guided by the European robotic arm;
• for collecting payloads from the ERA manipulator and transporting them into the internal volume of the airlock and then into the MLM pressurized adapter;
• to conduct scientific experiments in the internal volume of the airlock;
• for conducting scientific investigations outside the lock chamber on an expanded table in a specially prepared area.

The ShK was launched together with MRM 1 (Rassvet) on Space Shuttle mission STS-132 on 14 May 2010. It remained stored on MRM-1 for nearly years waiting for the arival of MLM-U (Nauka) in July 2021. On 4 May 2023, ShK was eventually berthed to the forward active docking port of the pressurized docking hub of the Nauka module using the ERA robotic arm.