Russian experts Wednesday planned to move the International Space Station to an orbit 2,300 feet higher than the present one to ease docking maneuvers.
Alexander Kireyev, chief of ballistic coordination group at the Space Missions Control Center near Moscow, said the task will be accomplished with the help of engines of the station's Russian segment, reports the Itar-Tass news agency.
The announcement said the orbit adjustment maneuver will make the orbit more suitable for an upcoming docking with a Progress cargo craft and also to test the station's engines.
"When the engines work, the discharges of fuel get on to the ship docked to Zvezda, and that's highly undesirable," Kireyev told Itar-Tass. "In the future, the engines may be used to adjust the orbit or to avoid the approaching space debris."
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
