MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Mission Control said Thursday it had cancelled plans to widen the International Space Station's orbit, but the launch of a cargo ship to the world's sole civilian space station remained unaffected.
The space center initially planned to widen the station's orbit by 700 meters early Thursday to test its engines after a long break and to prepare for docking with the Progress M-56 on April 26.
But Alexander Kireyev, head of Mission Control's ballistic service, said the orbital adjustment had been cancelled because an engine hatch had failed to open completely.
Kireyev said the Progress M-56 would be launched from the Baikonur space center, which Russia leases from the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, on April 24, according to the original schedule, but its lift-off would be delayed by few seconds, since the ISS orbit had not been adjusted.
