Russian anti-satellite missile test creates debris field, space station astronauts sh
 

Russian anti-satellite missile test creates debris field, space station astronauts shelter for safety
By: Marcia Dunn - The Sidney Morning Herald News - 11-16-21
Re: https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-a...16-p5997h.html

Cape Canaveral: Space junk threatened the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Monday, forcing them to seek shelter in their docked capsules and disrupting their work.

The US Space Command said it was tracking a field of orbiting debris, the result of a satellite breakup.

Photo link of Space Station: (by NASA) https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.25%2C$multiply_0.7554%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C $width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_15/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/250b051687af1c6ed5d99f4865306a95db5fe37d

“Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behaviour jeopardises the long-term sustainability of ... outer space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s (claims) to oppose the weaponizations of space are disingenuous and hypocritical,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, saying the Russian missile generated more than 1,500 pieces of “trackable orbital debris.”

The situation had the debris coming uncomfortably close to the space station on subsequent orbits, and required the astronauts to close and then reopen several compartments, including the European lab, every 1 1/2 hours until bedtime.

Mission Control said the heightened threat might continue for another couple days and continue to interrupt the astronauts’ science research and other work. Four of the seven crew members arrived at the orbiting outpost on Thursday night.

“We are actively working to characterise the debris field and will continue to ensure all space-faring nations have the information necessary to manoeuvre satellites if impacted,” Major AnnMarie Annicelli, an Air Force spokeswoman said.

“We are also in the process of working with the interagency, including the State Department and NASA, concerning these reports and will provide an update in the near future.”

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who’s midway through a yearlong mission, called it “a crazy but well-coordinated day” as he bid Mission Control good night.

“It was certainly a great way to bond as a crew, starting off with our very first work day in space,” he said.

Link from US State Dept: https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/...16-p5997h.html

The Space Command said it was working with NASA and the State Department. NASA had made no comment by early afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Space Agency said via Twitter that the astronauts were ordered into their docked capsules, in case they had to make a quick getaway. Later, the crew was “routinely performing operations,” the agency noted.

“Friends, everything is regular with us!” tweeted the space station’s commander, Russian Anton Shkaplerov.

But the cloud of debris seemed to pose a threat on each passing orbit — or every 1 1/2 hours. German astronaut Matthias Maurer was told to move his sleeping bag from the European lab to a safer location for the night.

Some 20,000 pieces of space junk are being tracked including old and broken satellites. Last week, a fragment from an old Chinese satellite — the target of a missile-strike test in 2007 — threatened to come uncomfortably close. While it later was dismissed as a risk, NASA had the space station move anyway.

The space station is currently home to four Americans, one German and two Russians.

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Re: https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-a...16-p5997h.html
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Personal note: Sooner or later it was going to happen - they got more unsafe shit
floating in space then we really know. It will happen someday but for now its
another warning that what goes up doesn't always come down. There's more
shit space then we know off. They need to build a ship they can send up and
start hauling this crap back to Earth before something tragic happens and then
who do we blame? Space Junk Galore and more to come! Sad isn't it!