Seven astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) were forced to take refuge in their spacecraft early Monday, November 15, as the station passed through a cloud of debris. A Russian anti-satellite test was then in question. The United States denounces an act "dangerous and irresponsible “.
Russia conducted an anti-satellite missile test on Monday, obliterating one of its own structures in orbit. As a result, the explosion created a large cloud of approximately 1500 pieces of debris which continue to evolve around the Earth to this day. The problem is that a few hours after the test, some of this material was looming dangerously close to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Russian space agency Roscosmos also confirmed the presence of this debris which, through the play of orbital mechanics, threatened the space station every 90 minutes or so. The situation was such that the astronauts were forced to shelter for several hours in their ships in case of a hasty return to Earth.
Recall that seven international astronauts currently live and work in orbit:Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron for NASA; Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov for Roscosmos; and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency (ESA).
According to space debris expert Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, the first encounter between the space station and the space junk occurred at 8:06 a.m. French time. It would have lasted about ten minutes. In the afternoon, around 3:30 p.m. French time, the situation on board the station was finally back to normal.
Recall that on November 10, the debris of a Chinese anti-satellite test dating from 2013 also passed near the station.
The US government quickly confirmed and condemned the Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) test early on Monday. “Earlier today, the Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites “said US State Department spokesman Ned Price. “The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of traceable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces of orbital debris that now threaten the interests of all nations “.
Ned Price also referred to "dangerous and irresponsible behavior ", compromising the "long-term sustainability" of outer space.
"This test clearly demonstrates that Russia's claims to oppose weapons and the militarization of space are fallacious and hypocritical “, he also added. "The United States will work with allies and partners to respond to Russia's irresponsible act" .
