Russian Cargo Ship Raises Space Station’s Orbit

The International Space Station (ISS) reached a higher orbit Wednesday after a brief engine burn by a docked cargo ship.

The Russian-built Progress 19 cargo ship, berthed at the aft end of the station's Zvezda service module, fired its engines for about 13.5 minutes to push the orbital complex eight statute miles (12 kilometers) up into an orbit 224 statute miles (360 kilometers) above Earth, NASA officials said.

The maneuver places the station in the proper position to meet the next ISS crew, Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov, flight engineer Jeffrey Williams and Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, they added.

The Expedition 13 crew and Pontes launch toward the ISS on March 29 EST. Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev are currently serving a six-month mission aboard the space station.

Progress 19's engine burn follows a similar maneuver by a second cargo ship - Progress 20 berthed at the station's Pirs docking compartment - on Feb. 13. That earlier engine marked the first time a Progress ship raised the ISS orbit from the Pirs port, NASA officials said.

McArthur and Tokarev are packing Progress 19 with trash and unneeded items with plans to jettison the disposable spacecraft on March 3. The cargo ship is expected to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere shortly after.

• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 12
• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 13