Russia's Mission Control raises ISS by 10.2 km

Russia's Mission Control announced on Wednesday it had raised the International Space Station (ISS) by 10.2 km to 374.7 km with the help of the Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. The Mission Control conducted the correction to the ISS at 19: 55 Moscow time (1555 GMT) by the boosters of the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. The correction had lasted for some 40 minutes. According to the Mission Control, the correction was made in line with the ISS's ballistic flight program. On June 12, the Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Johannes Kepler has conducted two similar operations, raising the ISS orbit by 19.2 km to 364.6 km. Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo ships and U.S. shuttles to compensate for the Earth's gravity and to safeguard successful dockings. According to the Mission Control, the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler is scheduled to undock from the ISS on June 21.