ISS Has Close Call with Space Debris
Posted in: science, space, Today's Chili
The crew of the International Space Station was forced to hide briefly in its escape capsule Thursday after a piece of space debris flew close by, NASA officials said.
The Expedition 18 crew members received an all-clear from Mission Control at 12:45 p.m. EDT Thursday, once the threat had passed. The crew took precautionary measures right after getting up this morning even though the chance of impact was low, the agency said in a statement.
Normally flight controllers steer the station to avoid the debris. But news of this particular piece came too late to execute an avoidance maneuver. Instead, the crew climbed into the Soyuz TMA-13 capsule and soft-locked the hatches for the first time, in case the collision turned out to be catastrophic.
Incidentally, the public naming contest for the new Node 3 capsule (pictured) is still ongoing. Serenity leads NASA’s choices, while Colbert tops the write-in votes. Cast your vote here.
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