The International Space Station performs an emergency maneuver to avoid a collision with a Russian missile

For the second time this month, the International Space Station (ISS) did not experience a collision in Earth orbit. A large Russian space junk, part of an old rocket called the Fregat-SB, was on a collision course and “scraped” past it.

It was possible to deviate in time, but the maneuver caused the postponement of the spacewalk (when astronauts perform services outside the station), which was initially scheduled for Wednesday (21), and ended up happening today.

A week ago, a small meteor hit the Soyuz spacecraft, which was docked at the International Space Station, It caused a major leak in the refrigeration sector🇧🇷 An investigation is still underway into the accident that caused the delay in spacewalk. A meteorite impact is suspected.

To avoid a similar problem, the NASA He’s been watching the Russian missile piece closely over the past few days. But he had a sudden change of course and The “red” proximity alert arrived just in time – more precisely, when Astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Casada were preparing to exit the hatch and begin a “spacewalk.”

The ISS made an emergency maneuver to withdraw, however, debris passed 250 meters from it. “The crew was not in imminent danger at all,” NASA said in a statement.

The Russian cargo ship Progress, which also docked there, was used to carry out the operation. Her thrusters engaged for just over 10 minutes, “to provide the collector with an additional measure of distance from the expected wreck track”.

Walking stream live

A live broadcast took place during the morning and afternoon of Thursday (22nd), the spacewalk to install new solar panels to generate power on the International Space Station. It lasted about eight hours.

🇧🇷Ruby (wearing a red striped suit) and Casada (wearing a non-marking suit) are part of the mission SpaceX Crew 5 which arrived at the station on October 6, 2022. This is the third spacewalk for both astronauts.”

Watch:

Lots of space junk in orbit

In addition to the two accidents this month, in October of this year, another Russian space debris entered a collision course with the International Space Station, which had to divert its trajectory.

According to NASA, this type of space junk is relatively common, as the remnants of all rockets, satellites, and other space equipment that are no longer used are lost in Earth’s orbit. which has become an alarming problem.