Nine astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) sought refuge in their spacecraft to avoid potential collisions with space debris following the breakup of a dead Russian spacecraft in low Earth orbit.
LeoLabs first reported the breakup event. For those who are unaware, LeoLabs monitors over 20,000 objects in orbit via a global radar network
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“Early indications are that a non-operational Russian spacecraft, Resurs P1 (SATNO 39186), released a number of fragments between 13:05 UTC 26 June and 00:51 UTC 27 June,” LeoLabs reported (via Forbes).
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LeoLabs reported that the object, a high-resolution Earth imaging satellite launched in 2013, weighed approximately 13,000 pounds and was orbiting at an altitude of about 220 miles, approximately 30 miles below the typical orbit of the ISS.
That’s reassuring for the astronauts, because much of the debris cloud is expected to be pulled down by Earth’s gravity, eventually burning up in the atmosphere without posing a significant threat to the space station.
According to NASA, the astronauts retreated to their spacecraft as “a standard precautionary measure.”
“Mission Control continued to monitor the path of the debris, and after about an hour, the crew was cleared to exit their spacecraft and the station resumed normal operations,” the US space agency said.
Currently, three spacecraft are docked to the ISS: a SpaceX Crew Dragon, a Russian Soyuz capsule, and Boeing’s Starliner, which is on its inaugural visit. The Starliner has prolonged its stay due to issues including a leak.
Over the years, the space station has sustained minor damage from debris, yet no astronauts have been harmed. However, the increasing number of satellites and their fragments is a growing concern.
