(Explorer8939) wrote


There is a lower altitude bound (about 300 km or so) after which a
single Progress or Shuttle cannot reboost ISS enough to counteract the
increased drag at that altitude. Given that the Russians can't make a
lot of Progresses these days, the Shuttles and ATV aren't flying, the
reality is that a few weeks of bad solar weather could put the whammy
on the whole program.

Jorge Frank provided some good information on this a few months ago.
ISS carries a fuel reserve about ten times as large as a Progress
delivery. That would let it do a major reboost back to ~400 km
altitude even without the Progresses.

Lessee

Date Total fuel

2004-09-08 4408 kg [SM(552) FGB(3388) PRO M(468)]
2004-09-16 4158 kg [SM(552) FGB(3326) PRO M(280)]
2004-09-22 4109 kg [SM(552) FGB(3557) PRO M(0)]
2004-09-30 4109 kg [SM(552) FGB(3557) PRO M(0)]
2004-10-07 4083 kg [SM(552) FGB(3531) PRO M(0)]
2004-10-14 4076 kg [SM(552) FGB(3524) PRO M(0)]
2004-10-21 4060 kg [SM(552) FGB(3508) PRO M(0)]
2004-10-28 3998 kg [SM(552) FGB(3446) PRO M(0)]
2004-11-04 3951 kg [SM(552) FGB(3399) PRO M(0)]