KOROLYOV, Moscow region, November 12. /TASS/. International Space Station was taken to a higher altitude on Wednesday in order to prevent a collision with orbital junk -— the debris of the Chinese satellite Yaogan-12, a spokesman for the Mission Control Center told TASS.
The maneuver was performed with the aid of the ATV European transport ship.
“An unscheduled adjustment of orbit has been completed and the operation was done without any complications,” he said.
A scheduled adjustment of the orbit was originally due on Thursday, December 13.
The ISS was taken to a safer orbit to avoid collision with the debris of the Chinese intelligence satellite that was launched in autumn 2011 and revolved around the Earth in a polar orbit. The latter is located perpendicularly to the orbit of the station.
The apogee of the satellite fragment that might pose danger to the station is 413 kilometers and the perigee is 408 kilometers.
Working aboard the ISS at present is Expedition 41 that includes the Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutiayev and Yelena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore.