"In accordance with the ISS flight program, the correction of the orbit is scheduled for August 9, 2017. The maneuver will be carried out with the engines of the Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft docked to the station, the start is set for 03:25 p.m. Moscow time [12:25 GMT]," the spokesperson said, adding that the orbital altitude will be increased by 440 meters to 404,5 kilometers (2513,5 miles).
The orbit’s correction is needed to create the necessary conditions for successful landing of the Soyuz MS-04 manned spacecraft, which will bring Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and US astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson of the Expedition 52 back to the Earth in September, the spokesperson added.
Members of the expedition 53, namely Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky, NASA astronaut Randolph Bresnik and European Space Agency's astronaut Paolo Nespoli arrived at the station in late July. They are expected to spend 139 days in space.
