[FPSPACE] Space debris of undisclosable origin delays ISS orbit boost

[jeoberg at comcast.net]

JimO notes that the 'space litter' is not otherwise specified in the Moscow story. What does anyone want to bet it is a piece off the 'satellite-whose-name-must-not-be spoken' in Moscow? The Russian satellite whose disintegration last spring has been denied by Russian space officials? 

Russia: ISS Orbit Correction Delayed To Avoid Collision With Space Litter
Moscow Interfax-AVN Online in English 02 Oct 08 11:46 GMT

KOROLYOV (Moscow region). Oct 2 (Interfax-AVN) - A correction of the International Space Station (ISS) orbit planned for Thursday has been delayed until October 4, Russian mission control center spokesman Valery Lyndin told Interfax-AVN.

"According to our ballisticians, the ISS would have collided with space litter if the orbit had been corrected today," he said.

October 4 is the reserve date for the orbit correction, Lyndin noted. 

It was planned to lift the ISS orbit with the help of the M-65 space freighter's engines. The Progress M-65 engines will lift the ISS by 1.25 kilometers to the altitude of 353 kilometers.

The ISS will be put in the optimum position for docking with the Soyuz TMA-13 spaceship, which is due to be launched on October 12. That is also necessary for the smooth descent of the Soyuz TMA-12 landing capsule in a designated area north of the city of Arkalyk on October 24.

The ISS orbit will be corrected automatically with the help of the Progress M-64 engines. The ISS main computer will control the process.

The Soyuz TMA-13 spaceship will take off from Baikonur on October 12 with Russia's Yuri Lonchakov, NASA's Michael Fincke and space tourist Richard Garriott onboard. The Soyuz TMA-12 landing capsule will bring to the Earth Russia's Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Gregory Chamitoff and the space tourist.
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