Russia blames space station lab incident on ‘software failure’

The Nauka module prior to docking with the ISS on Thursday (Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service photo via AP)

A Russian space official has blamed a software problem on a newly docked science lab that briefly knocked the International Space Station out of position.

The space station lost control of its orientation for 47 minutes on Thursday, when Russia’s Nauka science lab accidentally fired its thrusters a few hours after docking, pushing the orbiting complex from its normal configuration.