Russian space debris forces space station to dodge, delays US spacewalk - Space.com

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NASA delayed a planned spacewalk to task extracurricular the International Space Station astatine the past infinitesimal connected Wednesday aft a ample portion of Russian abstraction debris came dangerously adjacent to the orbital outpost.

NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada were getting acceptable to measurement retired from the U.S.-built Quest airlock connected the International Space Station aboriginal Wednesday (Dec. 21) to instal caller star arrays erstwhile their Mission Control squad commanded them to halt the work. Instead, the abstraction presumption volition execute an exigency maneuver to get retired of the mode of a ample portion of space debris that is connected way to get dangerously adjacent to the laboratory aboriginal successful the day. The spacewalk was yet rescheduled for Thursday, Dec. 22.

The debris successful question is simply a portion of a Russian rocket, the 11-foot-wide (3.35 meters) Fregat precocious signifier utilized connected Soyuz and Zenith launchers. The junk was predicted to get wrong little than a 4th of a mile (0.4 kilometers) from the presumption aboriginal today, triggering a "red," highest-level warning, Dan Huot, NASA spokesperson astatine Mission Control astatine the Johnson Space Center successful Houston, said during unrecorded commentary.

"This is simply a portion of debris that's been tracked implicit the past mates of days and its tracking information was ever successful our greenish oregon yellowish range, which doesn't necessitate doing a maneuver," Huot said. "But this morning, it moved to red, and erstwhile we get into red, we person to instrumentality action, whether it's a debris maneuver oregon immoderate different precautionary measurement to assistance support the unit safe."

The determination to cancel the spacewalk was made astatine astir 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT), Huot added. The crushed power squad is present preparing to steer the presumption to information utilizing thrusters aboard Russia's Progress cargo spacecraft that is presently docked to the station's Russian segment. The maneuver is expected to instrumentality spot astatine 8:42 a.m. EST (1342 GMT).

Huot said that the abstraction presumption is successful nary information from the debris, which was predicted to marque its closest attack to the abstraction laboratory astatine 11:17 a.m. EST (1617 GMT).

NASA volition look for a caller slot for the needed spacewalk, which mightiness instrumentality spot aboriginal this week.

"The unit is going to person to replan their docket for the time truthful they don't expect to spot a spacewalk today," Huot said. "The unit is not successful danger. This is not the archetypal clip we've done this and won't beryllium the last. This is conscionable about some of the realities of operating successful debased Earth orbit."

The incidental comes astir a week aft a important coolant leak from Russia's Soyuz unit capsule, which brought NASA's Frank Rubio and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin to the abstraction presumption successful September. The leak, which whitethorn person rendered the capsule unsafe to alert astronauts home, was blamed connected a portion of abstraction debris oregon a meteorite by experts, though a ceremonial probe is inactive underway.

If the concerns are confirmed, the abstraction presumption mightiness beryllium for the archetypal clip successful its past without a capableness to bring its full unit safely home successful lawsuit of a superior incidental aboard.

"Never a dull time aboard the International Space Station," Huot said.

Editor's note: This communicative was updated astatine 4 p.m. EST to enactment that NASA has rescheduled the spacewalk for Thursday, Dec. 22. You tin watch the spacewalk unrecorded online, courtesy of NASA TV, opening astatine 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT). The spacewalk volition statesman astatine 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT).

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Tereza is simply a London-based subject and exertion journalist, aspiring fabrication writer and amateur gymnast. Originally from Prague, the Czech Republic, she spent the archetypal 7 years of her vocation moving arsenic a reporter, script-writer and presenter for assorted TV programmes of the Czech Public Service Television. She aboriginal took a vocation interruption to prosecute further acquisition and added a Master's successful Science from the International Space University, France, to her Bachelor's successful Journalism and Master's successful Cultural Anthropology from Prague's Charles University. She worked arsenic a newsman astatine the Engineering and Technology magazine, freelanced for a scope of publications including Live Science, Space.com, Professional Engineering, Via Satellite and Space News and served arsenic a maternity screen subject exertion astatine the European Space Agency.

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