The International Space Station (ISS) fired its rockets for three minutes Tuesday to change its position in order to avoid a possible collision with a piece of orbiting junk, officials said.
The Itar-Tass agency cited Russian space centre officials outside Moscow as saying that the chances of a collision were minimal - only one-thousandth of a per cent.
But mission control decided on the position change - about one-half kilometre - as a precautionary measure anyway.
The ISS currently has a crew of six, including three Russian cosmonauts and three US astronauts. It is orbiting at an altitude of around 350 kilometres.
On Wednesday, an unmanned Progress cargo rocket is to be launched from the Baikonur space centre on a mission to bring equipment, food, water and oxygen supplies to the ISS. The Progress is to dock with the ISS on Saturday.
