ISS astronauts forced to evacuate station
by Stevie Smith - Mar 12 2009, 18:00
ISS crew forced to seek shelter from space debris. Image: NASA.
The crew of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been forced to seek protective shelter in a docked Russian Soyuz space capsule after potentially dangerous space debris came uncomfortably close, NASA said.
According to NASA spokesperson Laura Rochon, the debris didn’t strike the ISS and the astronauts were able to re-enter the station once it had passed. Rochon also said the debris was likely part of an abandoned motor that had once been attached to the station.
On reporting the incident, officials from Russian Space Command said the crew only evacuated the station for around 10 minutes and are now completely clear from danger.
“They didn’t even close the hatch between the station and the Soyuz and sat there for only about 10 minutes,” said a Russian mission control spokesman, while also adding that it is presently unclear as to where the chunk of debris came from.
With around 800 active military and commercial satellites presently above the planet, previously abandoned technology and other pieces of cosmic junk can pose a serious threat to their orbit. More than 18,000 pieces of orbiting debris have so far been catalogued.
On February 10, a U.S. Iridium 33 communications satellite was destroyed high above Siberia following an accidental collision with a defunct Russian intelligence satellite, both of which plunged into the ocean.
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