Russian Mission Control Center Adjusts Iss Orbit – Roscosmos

MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) – Telemetric data acquired by ground control stations confirm that the ISS orbit has been adjusted as required, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) press secretary Igor Panarin said.

“It was confirmed that engines of the Progress cargo spacecraft fired for the designated duration. As a result the ISS orbit was moved 5 kilometers higher,” Panarin said, adding that the average altitude of the ISS orbit is 337 kilometers.

The Russian mission control center adjusted the ISS orbit in an automatic regime at 5:50 a.m. Moscow time. The operation was required to create more advantageous conditions for the upcoming docking of the Soyuz TVA-10 space vehicle to the ISS.

The launch of the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft carrying the crew of the 15th main ISS expedition, as well as Charles Simonyi, a space tourist from the U.S., is scheduled for 9:31 p.m. Moscow time on April 7. The Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft carrying Mikhail Tyurin, Michael Lopez-Alegria and Simonyi is expected to take place on April 20.

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