Europe’s ATV-3 space freighter to raise ISS space station orbitMay 26, 2012 - 12:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two main engines of European Space Agency’s ATV-3 space freighter will be switched on early on Saturday to readjust the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS), Russian Mission Control said, according to RIA Novosti. The engines of the Edoardo Amaldi spacecraft, which is docked at Russia’s Zvezda module on the ISS, will fire at 04.10 a.m. (00:10 GMT) and remain turned on for 377.4 seconds. “As a result, the average height of the ISS orbit will be raised by 1.5 kilometers, to 399.3 km,” the Mission Control said in a statement. The maneuver will be carried out to ensure the best conditions for the landing of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-3M manned spacecraft and the docking of the Soyuz TMA-05M manned spacecraft with the ISS. Soyuz TMA-3M is scheduled to bring back to Earth Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers and NASA astronaut Don Pettit on July 1. Soyuz TMA-05M will be launched on July 15 to transport three members of the Expedition 32 crew – Russia’s Yuri Malenchenko, NASA’s Sunita Williams, and Japan’s AkihikoHoshide - to the ISS. Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful docking and undocking of spacecraft. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |