Russian Spacecraft Boosts Space Station's Orbit

An unmanned Russian spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) fired its engines early Thursday, raising the research platform's orbit in preparation for a cargo shipment next month.

The Russian-built Progress 19 cargo ship berthed at the aft end of the station's Zvezda service module fired its four thrusters during two successive burns to place the ISS in a nearly circular orbit that reaches 219 statute miles (352 kilometers) above Earth at its highest point, NASA officials said.

The Thursday maneuver marked the second time flight controllers attempted to boost the space station's orbit. The initial attempt on Oct. 18 EDT failed when the Progress engines unexpectedly cutoff less than two minutes into the first of two planned 12-minute burns.

Russian engineers suspected that a dropout in engine data - which would lead the Progress computer to shut down the burn automatically - caused the glitch. An Oct. 26 test firing of two of the Progress' four thrusters went smoothly.

Thursday's reboost began at 6:23 a.m. EST (1123 GMT) with an engine burn that lasted about 16 minutes and 46 minutes, NASA officials said. A second maneuver of about the same length occurred at 7:42 a.m. EST (1242 GMT).

The Progress 19 reboost set the space station in a nearly circular orbit that ranges between 214 to 219 statute miles (344 to 352 kilometers). The ISS had previously been flying on a path that varied between 210 and 218 statute miles (337 and 350 kilometers).

Space station astronauts Bill McArthur and Valery Tokarev - the twelfth ISS crew - will discard the Progress 19 spacecraft on Dec. 20 to make way for a fresh cargo ship. That new vehicle, Progress 20, is set to launch spaceward from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 21 and dock at the space station two days later.

The astronauts are set to board their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft on Nov. 18 for a brief flight outside the ISS to relocate the vehicle from its current berth at the Russian-built Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya control module.

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