Russia's Progress M-11M set to ISS orbit

Russia's Mission Control will make another adjustment of the International Space Station (ISS) orbit on Friday using Progress M-11M cargo ship, a spokesman for Mission Control said. The previous correction of the station's orbit was conducted on Wednesday after Russia's Progress M-11M raised it by 3.6 km (2.2 miles) to 384.7 km (239 miles). On Friday, at 16:00 Moscow time (12:00 GMT), the space freighter will raise the ISS orbit by another 3.6 km (2.2 miles) to 388.3 km (241 miles). Progress M-11M cargo ship docked with the International Space Station on June 23, three days after it was launched atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. It delivered to the ISS 2.5 tons of expendables, including fuel, water and food, particularly green apples, lemons, oranges, onions and garlic. Progress-family freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS's orbit and conduct scientific experiments. Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo ships and U.S. shuttles to compensate for Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful dockings.