American specialists asked to permanently shift the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) several kilometers lower, Ballistics Chief at the Energia Space Rocket Corporation (within the federal space agency Roscosmos) Rafail Murtazin told TASS.
US experts request to permanently move ISS to lower orbit
STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 5, ARTSAKHPRESS: "Per Americans’ request, in order to provide conditions for their tests, we will switch to a different orbit. Now we will fly not at an orbit of 419 kilometers, but at 3 kilometers less - 416 kilometers," he noted. According to the expert, this orbit may be maintained until it is decided to sink the ISS.
On December 24, 2021, the height of the ISS’ orbit was decreased by almost two kilometers.
Seven crewmembers are currently working aboard the orbital outpost, including Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer.
