Zvezda's humming systems produce 75 decibels, equivalent to the traffic on a busy street.

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When it gets to the station, Kepler will dock with the Russian Zvezda module on the rear of the orbiting platform.

BBC: 'Johannes Kepler' space freighter heads to station

Russian flight controllers reloaded a software upgrade into the computers of the Zvezda module to prepare for the arrival of the docking port.

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The launch of Zvezda will, however, deprive the station's American contractors, the largest of which is Boeing, of a convenient scapegoat, and will focus attention on their own shortcomings.

ECONOMIST: The International Space Station: Milestone or millstone? | The

For a start, Zvezda itself is plagued with problems.

ECONOMIST: The International Space Station: Milestone or millstone? | The

The suspects' parents recently returned to Dagestan in the Caucasus region after living in the United States for about 10 years because they were "nostalgic, " the father, Anzor Tsarnaev, told Russian state-run Zvezda TV.

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