The ISS Backflipped Out of Control After Russian Module Misfired, New Details Reveal Share The Nauka module (left) docked to the ISS, with a Soyuz spacecraft (right) parked nearby. (Image: Roscosmos) A NASA flight director has provided new details about last week’s scary incident in orbit, in which a freshly docked Russian module inadvertently fired its thrusters, causing the International Space Station to roll backwards. The incident happened on Thursday, July 29, some three hours after Russia’s Nauka module docked to the space station. As Russian crew members worked to integrate the newly arrived section, Nauka’s thrusters began to fire, causing the ISS to roll backwards. Russian flight controllers eventually re-gained control, but, for a 47-minute span, the situation looked dicey.