ISS orbit lowered to enable more cargo to reach the space station

The International Space Station’s orbit was lowered by 1.6 miles (2.5km) in a bid to enable spacecrafts from Earth bring more cargo to the space station. To lower the entire ISS, European Space Agency (ESA)’s spacecraft Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-5 was used. The thrusters were deboosted that resulted in ISS being spun 180 degrees and orbit being lowered slightly. “This deboost was required to set up phasing for 58 Progress (58P) 4-orbit rendezvous on February 17, 2015. The delta velocity for the burn was -0.69 m/s with a duration of 4 minutes 49 seconds”, read a press briefing from NASA. More

(Source: Techie News - Jan 31)