NASA: Space debris from India-destroyed satellite could threaten the ISS

By admin On Apr 2, 2019

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NASA’s chief executive, Jim Bridenstine, has expressed his dismay at the space debris created after India recently destroyed a satellite with a rocket. Some of the debris could threaten the ISS, he said.

Speaking on NASA TV, Jim Bridenstine described last week’s incident in which India destroyed one of its own satellites as a “terrible event” and “unacceptable.” He is particularly incensed that a small part of the resulting debris ends up in orbit above the ISS.

According to the NASA boss, 400 pieces of space debris have been identified, although only the pieces of space debris ten centimeters or larger can be tracked. 60 pieces of this debris are being tracked, and 24 of them have landed in orbit over the ISS. Bridenstine says the chance of colliding with the ISS has increased by 44 percent in ten days.

Bridenstine says India’s action “doesn’t fit the future of human spaceflight.” He says that all activities in space are threatened by this. “When one country does it, other countries feel they have to follow,” he says. He is referring to the anti-satellite weapon fired from the ground by India on March 27. This destroyed a satellite in low Earth orbit. The rocket had no explosive, but was placed in the orbit of the satellite. It flew at 29,000 km/h, so the kinetic energy of the impact was more than enough to disable the satellite. India is the fourth country in the world to have tested such a weapon; the US, China and Russia preceded India.

Eventually the debris will burn up in the atmosphere. Despite the increased risks to the ISS, the space station is not in immediate danger. The colossus, which orbits the earth at an altitude of more than 300 km, can also perform an evasive maneuver in case of emergency. For example, one such emergency occurred in March 2012, when a piece of space debris from a Russian satellite came close to the ISS. The crew, including André Kuipers, had to take place in the Soyuz capsules to be able to leave the ISS in an emergency.