MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. Thrusters of Russia’s Progress MS-06 unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft currently docked with the International Space Station will be switched on to adjust the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, the Russian Mission Control Center said.
"In line with the mission schedule, an adjustment of the ISS orbit is set for August 9, 2017. The maneuver will be carried out by switching on the thrusters of the Progress MS-06 space freighter. The maneuver is scheduled to begin at 15:25 Moscow time," the mission control said.
Wednesday’s adjustment will be carried out to ensure safe reentry of the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft and prepare for the docking of the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft due next month.
Another adjustment of the ISS orbit is scheduled for August 25.
The current ISS crew are Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryazansky and Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer, and the European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli.
A Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft carrying Yurchikhin, Fischer and Whitson back to the earth is expected to touch down on September 3, at 4:25 Moscow time. A Soyuz-MS-06 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba is scheduled to blast off at 00:17 Moscow time on September 13.