Alert! Space Station: Close Encounters of the Space Debris Kind
Updated - The six person crew of the International Space Station (ISS) got the word by ground control: all clear as a chunk of space junk zippped by the orbiting complex.
Earlier, there was indication that the crew would have to move into two Soyuz capsules attached to the orbiting facility, for safety's sake in the event the ISS was struck by the object. That procedure did not occur.
The initial worry was that the crew may be in some danger due to a close flyby of the orbiting space garbage – seemingly, now a constant worry by ISS controllers.
The close approach of orbital debris to the ISS took place roughly at 10:48 p.m. Eastern time Friday night.
The bit of space clutter is thought to be associated with Russia's Cosmos 2421, which broke-up last year.
There are some 20,000 pieces of space junk that are tracked by the U.S. Strategic Command. A high priority of that tracking is to protect human-occupied spacecraft such as the ISS.
LD/CSE
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