Space Station Orbit Lifted to Receive Russian Vessel
Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 09:00 CST
Space station orbit lifted to receive Russian vessel
MOSCOW, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) was lifted by approximately three kilometers on Wednesday to prepare for the arrival of a Russian spaceship, the Mission Control said.
"Four engines of the Progress M-54 cargo ship were used for the ISS orbit adjustment. They were automatically started at 8:50 p.m. (1750 GMT) and operated for about 16 minutes," a Mission Control spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
The maneuver was part of the preparations for the next manned Russian spaceship, the Soyuz TMA-8, which is scheduled to blast off on March 30.
The Soyuz TMA-8 is to deliver to ISS Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Brazilian astronaut Markus Pontez, who will briefly visit the orbiting lab.
Vinogradov and Williams will replace Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and U.S. astronaut William McArthur, who have been working on the station since October.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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