MOSCOW, February 28 (RIA Novosti) -- The orbital altitude of the International Space Station (ISS) has been increased by 5 kilometers (3 miles), a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control Center said on Thursday.
"The correction of the orbit of the ISS started at 8:16 a.m. Moscow time [5:16 a.m. GMT] by using thrusters on the Russian module Zvezda," the spokesman said, adding that the procedure had lasted 123 seconds.
He said the correction was made without the participation of the space station's crew.
The ISS's orbit has been adjusted for the upcoming arrival of the U.S. shuttle Endeavor, whose launch date is scheduled for March 11, to compensate for the Earth's gravity and ensure a successful docking.
The space station's orbit was last corrected in January, when the station was raised 5.25 kilometers (3.26 miles) to an altitude of around 340 kilometers (about 211 miles) over the Earth's surface.
