Europe’s ATV-4 to raise International Space Station orbit by 1.6 milesJuly 10, 2013 - 11:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Space Agency’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-4) will readjust the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, July 10 a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscosmos said, according to RIA Novosti. “ATV-4 engines will be started at 9:35 a.m. Moscow Time [5:34 GMT]. They will work for 593 seconds [almost 10 minutes]. As a result of the maneuver, the ISS’s orbit will be raised by about 2.5 kilometers [1.6 miles],” the spokesman said adding that the station’s orbit will total 417.3 kilometers (259.3 miles). Adjustments to the station's orbit are carried out regularly to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to facilitate the successful docking and undocking of spacecraft. This time, the orbit readjustment will be held to create the best conditions for the docking of the Progress M-20M cargo spacecraft, which is scheduled to be launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on July 28. ATV-4 resupply vehicle was launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from the Kourou space center in French Guyana on June 5 and docked with the ISS on June 15. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. 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". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |