Mission controllers had determined the orbital adjustment - which raised the altitude of the station by about 1.7 miles - was a desirable maneuver to ease rendezvous conditions slightly for Russian spacecraft, and to test the action in case the station needed to be moved out of danger of colliding with orbiting debris. The burn lasted about six and a half minutes.

A previous orbital adjustment attempt last month had to be canceled because of a technical problem.

Just completing their first month in space, commander Vinogradov and flight engineer Williams have been performing various scheduled experiments aboard the station, and they participated in an interactive televised educational event, also last Thursday morning, involving Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and NASA's Explorer Schools program.

They focused the rest of last week on routine maintenance and inspections. Williams completed checks of the refrigerated centrifuge, updated the inventory system and took samples of potable water for routine testing. He also changed the cooling water used in the U.S. spacesuits to ensure that the pumps work and to prevent microbial growth in the water tanks.

Vinogradov did similar jobs in the station's Russian segment - such as completing an inspection of the pressure hull in the Zvezda living quarters, performing maintenance of the ventilation system in Zvezda and testing emergency vacuum valves in the Atmosphere Purification System.

Last Wednesday, the crew updated onboard laptop computers. Williams began to install new software on the Medical Equipment Computer, but stopped to allow ground specialists to troubleshoot some difficulties he encountered. The problem was resolved, and mission controllers rescheduled the task for Williams.

Vinogradov installed and tested new software on a Russian laptop.

Both crew members spent time packing unneeded gear inside the ISS Progress 20. The 20th Progress to visit the station is docked to the Pirs compartment and will be jettisoned from the complex in mid-June to burn up in the atmosphere.

Related Links
Station at NASA

Add to Delicious