The InternationalSpaceStation has maneuvered out of the way of debris that was expected to come close to the orbital outpost on Monday night.
The International Space Station has maneuvered out of the way of debris that was expected to come close to the orbital outpost on Monday night.
The junk was identified as part of Cosmos-1408, an electronic signals intelligence satellite launched by the Soviet Union in September 1982 but which became inactive a couple of years later. The Russians destroyed Cosmos-1408 in a weapons test last November, an act that created around 1,500 pieces of space debris that currently orbits between 190 miles and 680 miles above Earth — within the range of the ISS, which orbits Earth at around 250 miles.
At the time, NASA chief Bill Nelson expressed anger at the situation, describing the satellite strike as “reckless and dangerous,” adding: “It is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts.” With the space station traveling around Earth at around 17,500 mph, a strike by any object could cause serious damage, or something far worse. Aside from the ISS, satellites providing vital communication services and other data could also be knocked out by a collision with space junk.