ISS orbit readjusted by 10.2 km

 

 

Russia's Mission Control has raised the orbit of the International Space Station by 10.2 km (6.3 miles) using Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler, a spokesman for Mission Control said on Wednesday.

"The correction was held with thrusters of the European space freighter ATV-2 Johannes Kepler," the spokesman said.

He said the operation to raise the station's orbit to 374.7 kilometers (232.8 miles) lasted almost 40 minutes.

The correction was made in line with the station's ballistic flight program.

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-2), which docked with the station on February 24, conducted two similar operations on June 12. The spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the Station on June 21.

Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo ships and U.S. shuttles to compensate for Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful dockings.

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