(Updated) Take Cover! Astronauts Seek Shelter as ‘Space Junk’ Threatens Space Station
- Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:02pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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UPDATE 2:57 PM:
(AP) — The three astronauts aboard the International Space Station no longer have to worry about a small piece of space junk heading their way.
Mission Control informed the crew Tuesday afternoon that the debris no longer poses a threat. Eight hours earlier, Mission Control told the astronauts they might have to seek shelter in their attached capsule. That precaution is no longer needed.
Our original story is below.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A small piece of space junk drifted dangerously close to the International Space Station on Tuesday, prompting NASA to order the three astronauts to seek shelter in their attached capsule.
Mission Control gave the order after determining there was not enough time to steer the orbiting outpost away from the space junk.
The debris – estimated to be about 6 inches square – is from a Chinese satellite that was deliberately destroyed in 2007 as part of a weapons test. It was projected to pass within three miles of the space station, warranting a red threat level, NASA’s highest.
Just last Friday, the space station had to move out of the way of an orbiting remnant from a two-satellite collision in 2009.
Debris is an increasingly serious problem in orbit, because of colliding and destroyed spacecraft. At 5 miles a second, damage can be severe, even from something several inches big. Decompression, in fact, is at the top of any spacefarers’ danger list.
More than 12,500 pieces of debris are orbiting Earth – and those are the ones big enough to track.
Mission Control notified the crew of the latest threat Tuesday morning, a few hours after the risk was identified. The three crew members are Dmitry Kondratyev, the station’s Russian commander, American Catherine Coleman and Italian Paolo Nespoli.
The orbit of the space junk is extremely erratic, and there’s quite a bit of atmospheric drag on it, said NASA spokesman Josh Byerly. Experts monitored the debris into the early afternoon, to determine its exact path.
It’s possible the risk of a collision might diminish. If that happened, the three station residents would not have to close themselves off in the Soyuz spacecraft. They arrived at the station in the Soyuz last December. The spacecraft serves as a lifeboat in case of an emergency. It will be used at the end of their six-month mission to deliver the crew back to Earth in May,
But if the risk level remains red, the astronauts would have to remove ventilation lines running from the space station’s major modules, seal the hatches to the rooms, and switch the radio channels so they can remain in contact with flight control teams in Houston and Moscow.
They would need to float into the Soyuz capsule about 10 minutes in advance of the time of closest approach – currently projected to be 4:21 p.m. Eastern Time – and remain inside for at least 15 minutes afterward.
The last time a station crew took refuge in a Soyuz was in 2009. That time, the crew had less than an hour’s advance warning. This time, the astronauts had nine hours’ notice.
A fresh three-person crew is en route to the 220-mile-high outpost after rocketing away from Kazakhstan. That Soyuz is due to arrive Wednesday evening.
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MUDFLAPS
Posted on April 7, 2011 at 8:55amI didnt know ovama went to outer space. Gosh he almost hit the skylab.
Report Post »technoid
Posted on April 6, 2011 at 11:23amThey need a space magnet for space junk. Or just stay on earth as God intended.
Report Post »DisposableWorker
Posted on April 6, 2011 at 12:46amSkyLab came apart over Australia. Same orbital plane as this piece of junk.
Report Post »David, the Constitutional Libertarian
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 5:08pmEver hear of the billion bb’s theory?
Shoot a rocket into space and have it filled with billions of bb’s and then boom!
The cascade effect of these bb’s floating in space travelling at 20,000 MPH around in space would cause a cascade effect wiping out all space vehicles. The Earth goes back to pre satellite era.
Sci Fi is soooo cool.
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 4:18pm“Junk and trash” floating in space…..hmmmmm…Did Detroit blow up?????????
Report Post »tarbush
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 8:28pmNo, Hollywood.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:52pmTom Jones, astronaut, said the space station has been hit many times, but this could have been bad and thankfully it did not happen.
Speaking of flying machines….anyone but me think there could be sabotage in all the airplane ‘incidents’ in the last few days? Several things come to mind. This will cause another financial problem for the airlines, due to safety checks, taking planes out of service, and I am sure new regulations. This will all cause a hardship on the companies, the public, and the economy. Next, there has been a lot of discussion about the ‘outsourcing’ of jobs for airplane maintenance to other countries. If the jobs are outsourced, and that can be ‘proven’ as the ‘problem’ then who will get the jobs here in the U.S. ??? Unions ???
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:29pmSo what if the junk hit the escape capsule while it was still attached ….O …I see another huge Progressive god of government agency spending billions sending up Waste Management teamsters to pick up the space junk …
Report Post »code green
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:42pmSend up the Teamsters, AFLCIO, UAW,and send ACORN to keep them organized while we are at it.
Report Post »chuck_wagon
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:23pmLet’s get the guys in orange jump suits walking along the highway pick up junk a new task. This time their orange jump suits will have a helmet attached. Be careful boys that junk you’re trying to catch is commin at ya aweful fast.
Report Post »Ronko
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:20pmI stand corrected but it’s still a problem that I hope is addressed before we have a real crisis.
Report Post »the hawk
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:18pmCHINEESE sPaCe JuNk !
Report Post »Ronko
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:17pmWhat NASA has done with the Space Junk is criminal. The left tells us not to pollute the planet well NASA has polluted outer space by having that junk out in orbit. If those astronauts die because of the Space junk, the blood is on NASA’s hands. Even though China blew up the satellite which was stupid to begin with because they should’ve just let it get lowered to Earth the real Bad Guy is NASA because they have been doing this for years.
Report Post »the hawk
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:16pmSUSAN HARKINS —–LINE of THE DAY !
Report Post »CURTWALL
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:14pmRaise the Shields Mr. Crusher.
Report Post »Phantom2487
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:07pmYou know they planned it when they blew up their satellite a couple years back you KNOW IT. This is what happens when the Chinese say: ‘You no pay debt we brow up space station!’
Report Post »tarbush
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:51pmcouldn’t we design the dang thing so it is sturdy enough to take a hit? or maybe some photon torpedos should be invented.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:04pmWhere’s the “force field”?
Report Post »Antares
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:47pm@Ivank, no they wouldn’t die. They get in the Soyuz capsule and close the hatch. Then they leave and come back to the ground if the Station is hit. If the golden BB hit the Soyuz, then they would be dead.
The Air Force does track the junk. The pieces of the Chinese satellite are in somewhat elliptical orbits that dip lower into the highest parts of the atmosphere. The uncertain drag force in that area means the orbit is uncertain.
BTW, I work in the space industry, so I understand this stuff. Feel free to ask. I can answer to the limits that proprietary and ITAR restrictions let me.
Report Post »Antares
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:49pmAnd now additional tracking has shown it will definitely pass a safe distance from the Station.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:44pmThank you. mIt‘s nice to have a knowledgeable person explain things to all us conservatives here who are already in shock because of what’s going on in D.C.!
Report Post »maumau
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:38pmuh did no one notice , “The debris – estimated to be about 6 inches square – is from a Chinese satellite that was deliberately destroyed in 2007 as part of a weapons test.”
Report Post »what weapon? a weapon fired from earth to destroy something in space?
i think it cool only because im a trekkie but as an american should we be worried about how advanced their weapons might be?
tarbush
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:07pmyes we should be worried about anything the Chinese do. clinton probably sold them the technology.
Report Post »okiebred
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:36pmIt seems funny to me that when President Reagan wanted to have “star Wars Technology” to be able to shoot down any missiles coming at us from space the whole world was up in arms to prohibit us. But now, China is testing weapons to destroy things (missiles) in space and no one seems to object. Must be a good friend of our fearless leader to be allowed to do this!
Report Post »ares338
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:25pmIt’s nice to know we humans can create junk anywhere we go. Yee Hawww!
Report Post »mom4times
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:22pmIncoming!!!! Houston we May have a problem!!!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:18pmWell that doesn’t sound good for us down here on the planet, does it? With 12,000 pieces of junk and debris orbiting, well, what goes up must come down.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:36pmYes .. so much for the “tracking” of it .. probably have turned that technology to trying to “prove” global warming .. like they are doing with much of the NASA budget.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:12pmI seem to have a distant memory of a proud United States of America space program. Seems John Glenn joined a DEMOCRAT PARTY that wanted to achieve the marginalization of that once proud space program. A DEMOCRAT DEFICIT of Trillions of our grandchildren‘s and greatgrandchildren’s future (if there is one) earnings was given to Barry’s cronies, and our once proud space program shrivels from lack of funds. DUMP OBAMA 2012
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:21pmOk.
Report Post »chuck_wagon
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:29pmYou see that‘s where you’re wrong 13th. We’re going to invite those brilliant muslims to join with us in our space research. They have soooooooo much to contribute you know? With all their experience in suicide bombing and beating little girls to death for the sin of letting themselves get raped and how can we forget their rational hatred of the Jews? With a track record like that how couldn’t obama want their input in the space prograM?
Report Post »goku17
Posted on April 6, 2011 at 4:30amuh oh, another genius. Well, if you were old enough, you’d remember that it was a republican president that started a war in iraq while cutting taxes. Remember John McCain saying “it’s irresponsible to cut taxes in time of war.” But don’t worry about the influence of the iraq war and the bush tax cuts on the deficit. And don’t worry about the expansion of Medicaire part D. Just follow your idiot republican talking points. As an independent, you make me want to vote for obama. That’s how stupid you are.
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:10pmHa. Just tell the eco-nuts the space junk is the cause of global warming, uh, I mean climate change or whatever. The nuts will petition the ‘global community’ to figure out how to remove it, they will have fundraisers to advance the science for space junk removal and BO will give them ten billion in taxpayer dollars and make some more laws and viola! problem solved.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:26pmlong long ropes
Report Post »goku17
Posted on April 6, 2011 at 4:25amhaha. you’re too stupid to understand how stupid you are. You know maybe you’re right, there is a global conspiracy among scientists to promote the idea that the increase in CO2 from increased consumption of fossil fuels causes a warming trend. Brilliant.
Report Post »Susan Harkins
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:04pmNow even space junk says: ‘made in china’.
Jeez
Report Post »mom4times
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:22pmLmao :D
Report Post »IvanK
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:27pmSad thing is that if the “junk” did hit the station, they would all die. That junk is traveling at 15-18K MPH. Junk hitting the station at that velocity would rip right through it. Even a piece the size of a pencil eraser would go through it.
Report Post »I hope to God that NEVER happens either!
Space dunk conundrum:
http://community.greencupboards.com/2011/02/03/nasas-space-litter-conundrum/
CatB
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:29pm@SUSAN …
LOL .. seriously I thought they tracked this stuff … what happened?
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:36pm@Susan
Report Post »Your comment is priceless! Thanks!
Jedi Master
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:44pmIs there some way we can tie Bush into this near disaster?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 2:49pmThe frightening thing is that, if the space station is damaged in just the right way, it could de-orbit, in theory, and reenter the atmosphere in a uncontrolled path. Most likely coming down in the oceans as the old SkyLab station did. Yet if enough survived entry and impacted in a inhabited area, the result would be severe.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:03pmDon’t we have lasers on satellites we can zap the junk with? If not, then why not? I’m not sure how fast the space station is travelling, relative to the junk, but if we can make lasers shoot missiles out of the sky, surely we can do this.
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:13pmArticle says some of that stuff is flying around at five miles per second, I didn’t realize it was that serious of a problem until I read that.
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:16pmLOL. That’s great!
Report Post »Anti_Spock
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:25pmHey China… clean up your space bits.
Report Post »Dick Blitskreig
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 5:52pmGood form sir.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 6:01pmwe have at least 12.5 million human debris orbiting the USA welfare hand outs…how can we steer them into outer space…
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 6:41pmUse duct tape to collect the junk….Sanford would love it…
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 8:31pmSusan: Your comment made my day !!!!! Love your sense of humour.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 8:45pm@ CatB They do track this stuff but there are 1000′s of pices of space junk the size of a walnut thats almost impossible to track. Thats the stuff that will kill them.
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