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Space station’s orbit adjusted ahead of Soyuz MS-19 crewed spacecraft launch

The Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft is set to blast off on October 5

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) was lowered in preparations for the arrival of a Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft with a filming crew and the subsequent undocking of a Soyuz MS-18 spaceship for its travel back to Earth, the space agency Roscosmos announced on its website on Friday.

"The altitude of the orbit of the International Space Station has been adjusted as part of preparations for the arrival of a Soyuz MS-19 manned transport spaceship and the return of a Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft," the statement says.

"According to preliminary data, the orbit’s altitude has been lowered by 1.2 km after an adjustment maneuver," Roscosmos said.

Following the adjustment, the International Space Station will orbit Earth every 92.91 minutes, have an orbital inclination of 51.62 degrees, a minimum altitude of 417.49 km and a maximum altitude of 438.83 km and an average orbital altitude of 419.98 km, the Roscosmos data suggest.

The Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft is set to blast off on October 5. The Soyuz MS-19 basic crew is comprised of cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko while the backup crew consists of cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, actress Alyona Mordovina and cameraman Alexei Dudin.

The crewmembers will film the first ever movie on the ISS and return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on October 17.

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