Engines of European Space Agency’s ATV-3 resupply spacecraft will be switched on to readjust the International Space Station (ISS) orbit on Friday, a spokesman for Russia’s Mission Control Center said.
"The European spacecraft’s engines are scheduled to be switched on at 12:37 Moscow time [8:37 GMT], and will remain turned on for 1220.8 seconds [approximately 20 minutes],” the spokesman said.
“The station will receive a boost of three meters per second. As a result, the average height of the ISS orbit will be raised by 5.2 km, to 399.5 km,” he said.
Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo ships and U.S. shuttles to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful dockings.
