NASA postponed an unplanned spacewalk International Space Station Due to flying “fragments”, Russia blew up one of its satellites in a missile test two weeks later, producing a large number of shrapnel in orbit.
The Space Agency in Washington did not mention the Russian test in its announcement, but a NASA official warned a day ago that due to November 14th event.
Thousands of pieces of “space junk” were produced by this impact, and they are now flying around the earth at a speed of approximately 17,000 mph (27,400 km/h)—much faster than a bullet. At this speed, even tiny paint spots can damage spacecraft, and spacesuits are even more vulnerable.
On Tuesday, about five hours before astronauts Thomas Marshborn and Keira Barron prepare to venture outside the NASA space station Say on twitter The spacewalk to repair the malfunctioning antenna has been cancelled.
“NASA received a notification of debris from the space station. Due to lack of opportunity to properly assess the risks it may pose to astronauts, the team decided to postpone the spacewalk on November 30 until more information is available.” Tweet.
Moscow has Said It successfully destroyed its own spacecraft Tselina-D, which has been in orbit since 1982, and the debris did not “pose a threat to space activities”.
But after the test, the astronauts on the International Space Station-four Americans, one German, and two Russians- Ordered to seek asylum immediately In the docked capsule. The crew must then take further precautions, such as closing and reopening the hatches of the various laboratories of the space station every 90 minutes or so as they approach or pass through the space debris.
this NASA Chief Executive Bill Nelson said at the time that he was very angry. “It is incredible that the Russian government will conduct this test, not only threatening international astronauts, but also their own astronauts.”
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken said Russia It shows that it is “willing to endanger the exploration and use of outer space by all countries through its reckless and irresponsible behavior.”
On Monday, before the planned spacewalk, Dana Weigel, deputy manager of NASA’s International Space Station, Said Since then, the fragments have “spread out more.” But she added that the agency calculated that the risk of the spacewalker’s spacesuit being punctured was 7% higher than before Russia’s missile test.
NASA TV had planned to report on the scene of the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk originally scheduled to begin at 7:10 am EST (12 pm GMT). The goal is to remove a malfunctioning S-band radio communication antenna assembly, which is more than 20 years old, and replace it with a new antenna that has been stored outside the space station.
Although the station has other antennas, the malfunctioning antenna has recently lost its ability to send signals to the earth.
Millions of space debris, including natural hazards such as discarded rocket components and meteoroids, pose a threat to the space station. They can stay in orbit for years or decades before falling into the atmosphere.
In 2007, a China missile test Created the dangerous space junk that is still being tracked today.Two years later, a scrapped Russian spacecraft Collide and destroy A US commercial spacecraft located more than 400 miles (650 kilometers) above the earth.
As governments increasingly rely on satellites for communication and observation, anti-satellite weapons have been seen as a way to destroy the enemy. Although they have not yet been used in warfare, the development of such missiles by the United States, Russia, India and China has caused people to worry about a new round of arms race.
Analysts warn that their deployment will be catastrophic, and in the worst case, will fill the low-Earth orbit with debris so that the satellite cannot operate.
