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ISS raises flight level to dock with space shuttle

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MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - The International Space Station's flight level was raised 2,300 meters Thursday, a spokesman for Russian Mission Control said Thursday.

"The operation was conducted outside the zone of Russian communications satellites. Our American colleagues from the Houston space center said everything had gone smoothly. The docked Progress cargo vehicle's engines worked according to schedule, i.e., for 318 seconds," the spokesman said.

The maneuver brought the station to the best trajectory for docking with the Discovery space shuttle. On July 1, NASA is expected to announce a launch date for the shuttle. A "window" for the launch will be open from July 13 to 31.

"The Americans can launch it anytime from July 13 to 31, except July 14 and 16," the Russian spokesman said.

However, the opening of this window could be postponed, as has often happened in the past.

Adjusting the orbit of the ISS is a routine operation that is conducted regularly to prepare the station for the arrival of manned and cargo spacecraft.

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