Russian space debris forces space station to dodge and delays spacewalk
NASA on Wednesday delayed a spacewalk planned to venture outside the International Space Station at the last minute after a large piece of Russian space debris came dangerously close to the orbital outpost.
NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada were preparing to exit the US-built Quest airlock in the International Space Station early Wednesday (Dec. 21) to install new solar panels when their mission control team ordered them to stop work. Instead, the space station will perform an emergency maneuver to get away from a large piece space debris which is on its way to get dangerously close to the lab later in the day. Finally, the spacewalk was rescheduled for Thursday, December 22.
The debris in question is a piece of a Russian rocket, the 11-foot-wide (3.35-meter) Fregat upper stage used in Soyuz and Zenith launchers. The debris was expected to come within a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) of the station later today, prompting a higher-level “red” warning, said Dan Huot, a NASA spokesman at Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. , he said during live comments.
Related: International Space Station: Live Updates
“This is a piece of debris that has been tracked for the past few days, and its tracking data was always in our green or yellow range, which does not require any maneuvering,” Huot said. “But it went into the red this morning, and once we go into the red, we have to take action, whether it’s a debris maneuver or some other precautionary measure to help keep the crew safe.”
The decision to cancel the spacewalk was made around 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT), Huot added. The ground control team is preparing to steer the station to safety using thrusters aboard Russia’s Progress cargo spacecraft currently docked in the Russian segment of the station. The maneuver is expected to take place at 8:42 am EST (1342 GMT).
Huot said the space station is not in any danger from the debris, which was predicted to make its closest approach to the space lab at 11:17 a.m. EST (1617 GMT).
NASA will look for a new space for the required spacewalk, which could take place later this week.
“The crew will have to rethink their schedule for the day because they don’t expect to see a spacewalk today,” Huot said. “The crew is not in danger. This is not the first time we’ve done this and it won’t be the last. It’s just some of the realities of operating in low Earth orbit.”
The incident comes about a week after a major coolant leak from Russia’s Soyuz crew capsule, which carried NASA’s Frank Rubio and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin to the space station in September. The leak, which may have made the capsule unsafe to carry astronauts home, was blamed on a piece of space debris or a meteorite by experts, although a formal investigation is still underway.
If the concerns are confirmed, the space station could be for the first time in its history without the ability to bring its entire crew safely home in the event of a serious incident on board.
“Never a dull day aboard the International Space Station,” Huot said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:00 PM EST to note that NASA has rescheduled the spacewalk for Thursday, December 22. you can watch the spacewalk live online, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 7:00 a.m. EST (1200 GMT). The spacewalk will begin at 8:30 am EST (1330 GMT).
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