spacetoday.net: ISS orbit boosted

Posted: Fri, Nov 11, 2005, 11:44 AM ET (1644 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

A Progress spacecraft docked to the International Space Station fired its thrusters for over a half-hour Thursday to raise the station's orbit. The Progress M-54 fired its engines for 33 minutes, raising the station's orbit about eight kilometers, to an average altitude of 353 kilometers. The maneuver, the longest thruster firing carried out by a Progress docked to the station, sets up the ISS for the arrival of a new Progress cargo spacecraft next month. A similar maneuver was planned for last month but was aborted partway through because of a dropout in data from the engine. A brief test firing of the Progress engine late last month confirmed that the problem had been resolved.