Space station orbit adjusted for docking

The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) will be raised by 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles) on Wednesday to ensure the best conditions for the docking of Russia’s Progress M-15M cargo spacecraft with the station, Russian Mission Control spokeswoman said. The maneuver will be conducted using the two main engines of the Russian Zvezda Service Module, the spokeswoman said. It will begin at 2.12 pm Moscow time (10:12 GMT) and last about 76 seconds, giving the ISS an additional boost of 1.2 meters per second. As a result, the altitude of the ISS orbit will be raised to 391.3 kilometers (about 243 miles) above Earth, she said. The launch of the Progress M-15M spaceship from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan is scheduled for April 20. Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before spacecraft launches to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful dockings and landings.