TORU

TORU (Tele-robotically Operated Rendezvous Unit,[1] Russian: Телеоператорный Режим Управления, lit.

The TORU system became known to the public in 1997 when it was used during the manual approach of Progress M-34 to Mir that ended with a dangerous collision that punctured the Spektr module causing a slow leak that left it permanently uninhabitable.

It was an approach of a previously used Progress spacecraft with the purpose of research work on further improvement of TORU.

TORU has a similar layout to the controls of a Soyuz spacecraft with two joysticks which can be used to manually fly the ship.

TORU also transfers sounds from the spacecraft that may provide indirect information about the docking process.

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri practices docking with the TORU system in the Zvezda module on the International Space Station in preparation for the docking of the Progress 13
Spektr module solar array after the collision from the TORU test