European cargo ship completes first of two ISS orbital adjustments
MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The first of the two orbital adjustments of International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for Wednesday has been completed by the European Automatic Transfer Vehicle ATV-3, the Mission Control Center told Interfax-AVN.
"The adjustment is complete. The ATV engines ran for as long as necessary," an MCC official said.
The average altitude of the ISS orbit has increased to approximately 414.8 kilometers, he said.
This maneuver aimed to bring the ISS to an altitude that the station failed to reach during the August 15 adjustment, another source told Interfax earlier
In a few hours ATV-3 will perform a second adjustment (due to start at 5:17 p.m. Moscow time). The boost of 4.9 meters per second during 2,088.5 seconds will allow to increase the station's orbital height to 420.6 kilometers.
It was reported earlier that during the ISS orbital adjustment on August 15 the ATV-3's engines shut down prematurely because of an increase in temperature sensor data on a ship's engine that was not involved in the maneuver. At the time, the ATV lifted the ISS orbit by five kilometers instead of the planned seven point seven.
The adjustments carried out on August 15 and 22 aim to create optimal conditions for the descent to the Earth of the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft and the flight to the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft. Another ISS orbital adjustment for the same purpose is scheduled for September 12.
This has been a fourth ISS orbital adjustment conducted by the ATV-3. The first one was performed on May 26, the second on July 18, and the third on August 15.
