Orbital station avoids collision with space junk

The Russian Mission Control has carried out an emergency adjustment of the International Space Station's orbit to avoid its possible collision with a piece of an old Russian launch vehicle.

The orbit was raised by 4.7 kilometers to approximately 387.1 km on Thursday, and the ISS is now nine kilometers above the 10-cm fragment of the Tsiklone-3 carrier rocket launched in 1991.

"The crew continues to carry out its mission on board the orbital station in line with the program," a Mission Control official said.

The adjustment cancels the routine one that has been scheduled for October 6, the official added.

The current ISS crew comprises NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.