For the second time this month, the International Space Station (ISS) has not been impacted in Earth orbit. A large Russian space junk, part of an old rocket called Fregat-SB, was on a collision course and “scraped” it.
It was possible to deviate in time, but the maneuver caused the postponement of a spacewalk (when astronauts perform duties outside the station), originally scheduled for this Wednesday (21), and finished today.
A week ago, a micrometeorite hit the Soyuz spacecraft, which is docked with the ISS, causing a large loss in the cooling sector🇧🇷 The accident, which also delayed a spacewalk, is still being investigated; it is suspected that there was a meteoroid impact.
To avoid a similar problem, the NASA he had been closely monitoring the Russian rocket piece for the past few days. But she had a sudden change of course and the The proximity “red” alarm came just in time, more precisely when astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada were preparing to exit the hatch and begin the “spacewalk”.
The ISS performed an emergency maneuver to get away, and even so the debris passed only 250 meters from it. “The crew was never in immediate danger,” NASA said in a statement.
The Russian cargo ship Progress, also docked there, was used to carry out the operation. Her thrusters were fired for just over 10 minutes, “to provide the complex an extra measure of distance from the wreck’s anticipated wake.”
Walk in live stream
Throughout the morning and afternoon of this Thursday (22nd), the spacewalk was broadcast live, for the installation of new solar panels for energy generation on the ISS. It lasted about eight hours.
“Rubio (wearing red striped dress) and Cassada (wearing unmarked dress) are part of the quest SpaceX Crew-5 who arrived at the station on October 6, 2022. This is the third “spacewalk” for both astronauts,” NASA said on its YouTube channel.
Look:
Lots of space junk in orbit
In addition to the two events this month, other Russian space debris also collided with the International Space Station in October this year, which had to be diverted.
According to NASA, this type of space junk is relatively common, as the remains of all rockets, satellites, and other space equipment that are no longer used are drifting in Earth’s orbit. That is even becoming a worrying problem.
