ISS Safe After Orbit Correction Failure

The Russian Space Agency said Thursday that Wednesday's abortive orbit correction would not affect the safety of the International Space Station (ISS) or its crew, reports RIA Novosti.

"At present, [the ISS's] average orbit height is 347 kilometers [215 miles]," the agency said. "The orbit correction failure did not affect flight safety or the safety of the crew."

An emergency situation arose early Wednesday caused by a system engine shutoff of the Progress M-55 cargo vehicle during initial ISS orbit correction maneuvers, which were designed to raise the station's orbit by 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) to maintain working orbital parameters.

"Orbit correction can be performed by other engines, either of the Progress M-55 or of the ISS service module," the agency said, adding that the next ISS orbital correction would be made after experts had studied the situation.

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