ISS orbit raised to prepare for incoming, outgoing Soyuz spacecraft

The International Space Station’s (ISS) orbit has been raised to prepare for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft and the return of Soyuz MS-27 to Earth.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said the station’s orbit was increased by about 2.7 kilometers, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media. 

The agency explained that the maneuver was performed using the engines of the Progress MS-32 cargo ship docked to the ISS. The engines were switched on at 16:04 Moscow time and fired for 847.47 seconds, giving the station a boost of 1.55 meters per second. After the adjustment, the ISS was orbiting at an average altitude of 419.74 kilometers above Earth.

Roscosmos also reported that the current crew includes Russian cosmonauts Alexei Zubritsky, Sergei Ryzhikov, and Oleg Platonov; NASA astronauts Johnny Kim, Zina Cardman, and Michael Fincke; and Japanese astronaut Kimia Yui.

By Sabina Mammadli