An unidentified piece of space debris was found near the International Space Station, NASA said yesterday. The station conducted a “skip maneuver” on Tuesday night to get out of the debris on Tuesday night by increasing its orbit around the earth. “At no time was the crew in danger,” NASA wrote in a blog post.
Throsters were used on a Crown Progress cargo ship attached to the station to raise funds for the station’s rankings, according to NASA. During the maneuver, the astronauts aboard the station flew into Russian territory to get closer to the Soyuz passenger spacecraft. Once the 150-second-long maneuver was completed, the crew returned to their normal activities.
It was not immediately clear what the space debris was, but NASA said flight controllers in Houston were searching for the object with the help of US Space Command. At one point, it was expected to come within 1.39 kilometers (0.86 miles) of the station.
The ISS had earlier also been hit by small junk bits of space. It has also been successful in debris from more dangerous spaces. In 2015, the station adjusted its orbit to avoid a piece of the Minotor rocket that launched two years ago. At the time, they also used attached progress spacecraft thrusters to increase the station’s orbit.
Over time the problem of space junk has only become more acute. On Twitter, NASA chief Jim Bridenstein said, “Debris is getting worse!” And mentioned that the space station has only moved three times in 2020 to avoid debris.
This Space_station Exercised 3 times in 2020 to avoid debris. In the last 2 weeks, there have been 3 high anxiety potential connections. The debris is getting worse! Time to provide Congress OmCommerceGov With mil 15 million requested by Potts Space for Commerce Mercer Office Fees.
– Jim Bridenstein (Gimbredensine) September 22, 2020
As space becomes more dense, in the work of many giant satellite constellations, NASA continues to worry about space junk cluttering low-earth orbits. A recent call yesterday showed that the future where space debris can be repaired (or trapped) may not come soon enough.
