vendredi 12 mars 2021

ISS orbital altitude increased by 0.45 km

 






ROSCOSMOS - Russian Vehicles patch.


March 12, 2021

In accordance with the flight program of the International Space Station, on March 12, 2021, specialists from the TsNIIMash Mission Control Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) corrected the altitude of its orbit. For this, the engines of the Progress MS-14 transport cargo vehicle docked to the Zvezda service module were automatically switched on at 22:09 Moscow time.

ISS reboost by Progress cargo vehicle. Image Credit: NASA

The orbit was corrected in full accordance with the calculated data. The spacecraft engines worked for 114.2 s, as a result of which the average altitude of the station's orbit increased by 0.45 km and amounted to 419.7 km. According to preliminary information from the ballistic and navigation support service of MCC TsNIIMash, the ISS orbit parameters are now:

- Orbital period: 92.90 min;
- Orbital inclination: 51.66 degrees;
- Minimum height above the Earth's surface: 418.82 km;
- Maximum height above the Earth's surface: 439.69 km.

This maneuver was performed to form ballistic conditions before the launch of the Soyuz MS-18 manned spacecraft, which is scheduled for April 2021. Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai will go to the ISS on it.

 ISS reboost

Currently, the crew of the 64th long-term expedition, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, as well as NASA astronauts Kathleen Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are working on board the International Space Station.

Related article:

ISS orbital altitude will be raised before the arrival of the Soyuz MS-18 crew
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/03/iss-orbital-altitude-will-be-raised.html

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/30284/

Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/ESA/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

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