The station will be "raised" to 350 meters to create the necessary ballistic conditions for the next manned launch
MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. The next correction of the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) in preparation for the launch of the Soyuz MS-19 transport manned spacecraft will take place on May 20. This is stated in the message of Roscosmos, distributed on Wednesday.
"In order to form the initial ballistic conditions before the launch of the Soyuz MS-19 transport manned spacecraft and the landing of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, another correction of the orbit height of the International Space Station is planned for May 20, 2021, "the state corporation noted.
As specified in Roscosmos, the maneuver will be carried out with the help of the Progress MS-16 cargo ship. According to the calculated data of the ballistics and navigation support service of the TsNIIMash Mission Control Center, its engines will be turned on at 20: 01 Moscow time and will work for 180 seconds, the pulse will be 0.2 m/s. "After this maneuver, the average height of the ISS will increase by 350 m and will be 419.72 km," the press service added.
Currently, there are seven crew members on board the ISS: Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hai, Shane Kimbrough and Megan MacArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Tom Pesquet, and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
