spacetoday.net: ISS reboost maneuver cut short

Posted: Thu, Nov 30, 2006, 8:07 AM ET (1307 GMT)
STS-115: ISS after undocking (NASA)

An engine firing early Thursday designed to raise the orbit of the International Space Station ended far sooner than planned, a problem that, if unresolved, could jeopardize next week's scheduled launch of a shuttle mission to the station. The engines on the Progress M-58 spacecraft docked to the ISS were suppoed to fire for over 18 minutes Thursday morning, raising the station's orbit by 7.3 kilometers. However, the burn ended after just over a minute, raising the station's orbit by only 1 to 1.5 kilometers. The maneuevr was designed to raise the orbit in preparation for the arrival of the shuttle Discovery, scheduled to launch on a mission to the ISS in a week. The maneuever has been rescheduled for December 2, although the cause of the early shutdown is still being investigated. A similar problem took place during a reboost maneuver in 2005 but was later resolved.