ATV-3 Spacecraft Raises Space Station’s Orbit by Two Km

RIA Novosti

07:55 14/09/2012

MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - Europe’s ATV-3 unmanned resupply spacecraft raised the International Space Station (ISS) orbit to over 424 kilometers, a mission control spokesman said on Friday.

ATV-3 engines were fired up at 7:15 p.m. Moscow time [03:15 GMT] and remained switched on for 536 seconds (almost nine minutes), raising the ISS orbit by two kilometers to 414.8 km, the spokesman said.

Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful docking and undocking of spacecraft.

This maneuver was carried out to ensure the best conditions for the landing of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-04M manned spacecraft in Kazakhstan on September 17 and the docking of the Soyuz TMA-06M manned spacecraft with the ISS, scheduled for October 15.