ISS Orbit Upped

The orbit of the International Space Station was raised Friday with the help of the Endeavor shuttle, docked with the ISS. Now the space station's maximum altitude above the Earth is approximately 400 kilometers. As RIA Novosti knows from the American National Aeronautic and Space Administration office at the Russian Mission Control Center, also engaged in the raising of the ISS orbit was the main computer of the American laboratory module Destiny. Its work has been put right after a 24-hour malfunction. Two other standby computers have not so far been put to use, although all is being done to discover what caused the failure, said NASA specialists. According to them, since not all Destiny computers are in action, NASA has put off testing of a Canadian building manipulator robot to Saturday hoping that all computer failures will be rectified by that time. By the morning of April 28, the blastoff of the manned spaceship Soyuz TM-32 to the International Space Station is to be scheduled. Intensive consultations are now under way between specialists of NASA and the Russian Aerospace Agency, said the NASA spokesmen at the Russian Mission Control Center.