The International Space Station had to swerve last week to avoid a piece of Russian space debris from a destroyed satellite.
, and it later appeared on Twitter. In the maneuver, the ISS’s Progress 81 fired its thrusts for 4 minutes and 34 seconds. The move is what NASA calls a Pre-Determined Avoidance Maneuver .the move was meant to add more distance between the station and the debris’ flight path. “The crew was never in any danger and the maneuver had no impact on station operations,” NASA shared in an update.
The debris belongs to the remains of Russian Cosmos 1408. Russia destroyed the non-functional satellite back in 2021. When it destroyed it, the country created an estimated 1,500 pieces of Russian space debris in orbit around the planet. This debris, experts have warned, could be problematic for the ISS and other Earth-orbit ventures for years to come.
and damaged the station. Thankfully that wasn’t the case here, but it does continue to raise concerns over the growing amount of space debris out there.
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