The International Space Station (ISS) had to change its orbit on Monday to avoid a collision with space debris.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos said that the manoeuvre involved firing up the engines of the Russian Progress MSZ-20 cargo spacecraft attached to the station, which operated for 630.8 seconds to avoid a collision. Russian astronaut Dmitry Petelin had said earlier, before the execution, that it was just a routine manoeuvre and the crew would probably not even feel it.
The station has been raised 1.75 kilometres higher with the orbit modification, so it will continue to orbit at an average altitude of 417.9 kilometres, according to Roscosmos.
The ISS last performed a similar orbit correction in June, when it avoided the wreckage of the Kosmos-1408 satellite. The space station has made 327 orbit corrections in its history.
More and more problems with orbiting space debris
Space debris is causing more and more problems in space (and sometimes even on Earth). The ISS is regularly forced to take evasive manoeuvres to avoid collisions with cosmic debris, which could destroy the space station if it hits.