An incoming piece of space junk recently prompted the International Space Station to take action to maneuver itself out of harm’s way.
A Russian cargo ship docked at the space station fired its thrusters for more than five minutes Tuesday in order to “provide an extra margin of distance” for the hunk of debris, NASA said. While the inbound object, which was debris from a defunct meteorological satellite, was not necessarily on a collision course with the station, NASA said the evasive maneuver provided a little more cushion for it to safely whizz by.
Space junk comprised primarily of retired satellites and other human-made objects, like used rocket boosters, are a growing problem littering Earth’s orbit. Left unchecked, the junkyard of orbital debris can pose dangers to both crewed and uncrewed space missions, as well as astronauts on the space station.
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NASA, Roscosmos execute ISS maneuver
The International Space Station’s Harmony module, where many spacecraft dock when they reach the orbital outpost.
When the approaching debris was detected, NASA worked with the Russian space agency Roscosmos to conduct the avoidance maneuver.
The Progress 89 spacecraft, which reached the station in August on an autonomous resupply mission, fired its thrusters around 3 p.m. EST Tuesday for 5 minutes, 31 seconds, to raise the orbit of the space station. The threatening object was determined to be a piece of orbital debris from a defunct defense meteorological satellite that broke up in 2015, NASA said.
Without the maneuver, ballistics officials estimated that the fragment could have come within around 2.5 miles of the station, according to NASA.
The maneuver did not disrupt regular station operations and will not delay Thursday’s scheduled launch of the Russian Progress 90 cargo craft from Kazakhstan. The uncrewed spacecraft is set to deliver nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the Expedition 72 crew when it reaches the station Saturday morning.
Space station regularly avoids space junk
Such maneuvers have become a increasingly necessary for the space station to perform amid a growing field of space debris cluttering what’s known as low-Earth orbit. NASA estimates 17.6 million pounds − or 8,800 tons − worth of objects are in Earth orbit.
Up until December 2022, the International Space Station had moved out of the way of space junk 32 times since 1999, according to a quarterly report from NASA. By the time the October report was released in 2023, that figure had jumped to 37 orbital debris avoidance maneuvers.
Space junk can even cause problems for people here on Earth if it doesn’t burn up when it reenters the atmosphere.
Earlier this year, a family in Naples, Florida, filed a claim against NASA for more than $80,000 in damages to their home after a chunk of space debris from the International Space Station tore through their roof.
Space agencies around the world have in previous years begun to take action to reduce and limit the amount of junk permitted to float around in orbit. Even the Federal Communications Commission began a crack down last year, issuing an unprecedented fine against the Dish Network after the agency said an investigation found the company improperly disposed of one of its decommissioned satellites.
Last October, the European Space Agency finalized a global Zero Debris Charter calling on nations and organizations to commit to actions that would severely limit the amount of space debris floating around by 2030.
NASA, Russian disagree on space station leak
While Roscosmos and NASA collaborated on the evasive maneuver, the two space agencies have reportedly been at odds over another issue at the station.
An air leak in the Russian segment of the International Space Station has lead to disagreement between Roscosmos about not only the cause, but how serious it is.
The topic arose during a Nov. 13 meeting of NASA’s ISS Advisory Committee when an official recounted Roscosmos’ position on the leak at the PrK module on the station.
“The U.S. and Russian technical teams don’t have a common understanding of what the likely root cause is or the severity of the consequences of these leaks,” said Bob Cabana, a former NASA astronaut and associate administrator who now chairs the committee. “NASA has expressed concerns about the structural integrity of the (module) and the possibility of a catastrophic failure.”
The U.S. space agency and its Russian counterpart are monitoring the leak and have sealed off the area from the rest of the station when crew members do not need to access to spacecraft docked at the module.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: International Space Station maneuvers away from incoming space junk
