‘Spacecraft emergency’ declared when ISS lost control of its orientation for 47 minutes

In its broadcast coverage of the incident, RIA cited Nasa specialists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as describing the struggle to regain control of the space station as a “tug of war” between the two modules.
At the height of the incident, the station was pitching out of alignment at the rate of about a half a degree per second, Mr Montalbano said during a Nasa conference call with reporters.
The Nauka engines were ultimately switched off, the space station was stabilized and its orientation was restored to where it had begun, Nasa said.
Communication with the crew was lost for several minutes twice during the disruption, but “there was no immediate danger at any time to the crew,” Mr Montalbano said. He said “the crew really didn’t feel any movement”.
Had the situation become so dangerous as to require evacuation of personnel, the crew could have escaped in a SpaceX crew capsule still parked at the outpost and designed to serve as a “lifeboat” if necessary.
What caused the malfunction of the thrusters on the Nauka module, delivered by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has yet to be determined.
Mr Montalbano said there was no immediate sign of any damage to the space station. The flight correction manoeuvres used up more propellant reserves than desired, “but nothing I would worry about,” he said.
Repeated delays due to technical issues 
Russia’s long-delayed 22-ton lab called Nauka had arrived on Thursday, eight days after it launched from the Russian launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
The launch of Nauka, which will provide more room for scientific experiments and space for the crew, had been repeatedly delayed because of technical problems. It was initially scheduled to go up in 2007.
In 2013, experts found contamination in its fuel system, resulting in a long and costly replacement. Other Nauka systems also underwent modernisation or repairs.
Stretching 43 feet (13 meters) long, Nauka became the first new compartment for the Russian segment of the outpost since 2010. On Monday, one of the older Russian units, the Pirs spacewalking compartment, undocked from the station to free up room for the new lab.
Nauka will require up to 11 spacewalks beginning in early September to prepare it for operation.