Space debris flying toward the International Space Station forced it to perform an evasive maneuver on Thursday (August 24).
Russian unit on International Space Station The International Space Station was turned on around 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT or 6 p.m. Moscow time) to move the orbital complex away from space junk. NASA confirmed the maneuver via email.
“On Thursday, the engines of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module ran for 21.5 seconds…to maneuver the complex away from the projected path of an orbital debris fragment,” NASA officials wrote.
added a Report in Russian From the Russian state media agency TASS, Google Translate; The average height of the International Space Station is above Land About 250 miles or 400 kilometers.
The NASA email and an earlier post on the agency’s blog said the orbital adjustment would take place It has no effect In operations during the space station’s busy 24 hours.
Related: How often does the International Space Station have to dodge space debris?
The Progress 85 cargo ship is expected to arrive at the International Space Station around 11:50 p.m. EDT Thursday (0350 GMT Friday, Aug. 25).
Hours later, he arrived SpaceX The four crew of astronauts will be arriving at the International Space Station, too. It is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center 3:50 a.m. EST (0750 GMT) On Friday you can Watch coverage here At Space.com, via NASA TV. The planned docking will happen on Saturday (August 26), which will also be broadcast live here on Space.com via NASA.
Course corrections have occurred by the International Space Station more than 30 times since 1999 And the need for them is accelerating as more satellites and space junk accumulate in orbit. It’s unclear how close the debris the space station passed this time, or whether it was a natural or man-made piece of debris.
However, in general, such flights occur from a relatively long distance.
NASA guidelines monitor the International Space Station for any debris that comes inside a “pizza box” – the shape of a region of space around the station’s orbit, which is about 2.5 by 30 by 30 miles (4 by 50 by 50 kilometers) and the ISS is at the center, according to NASA. to agency officials. Tracking is done by the US military, which can track flying objects up to 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter.
This story was updated at 2 p.m. EST with updated information from NASA.
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