Russian thruster misfire led to a ‘tug of war’ at the International Space Station as crew sought to regain control

Personnel aboard the space station launched other thrusters as a counterbalance. This led to a “tug of war” between the ISS, a soccer-field-sized operation, and Nauka, a 42-foot research facility. The incident caused ground controllers to lose communication with astronauts onboard twice, once for four minutes and again for seven minutes. And the turmoil continued until Nauka used up its fuel supplies. The space station was out of position for 47 minutes, NASA said.