Russian satellite breakup sends ISS astronauts to shelter

Russian satellite breakup sends astronauts to shelter

On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, shortly after 9 p.m. EDT, NASA instructed the 9 astronauts aboard the International Space Station to move to their shelters. This precautionary measure was in response to the breakup of a Russian satellite, RESURS-P1. The astronauts spent about an hour of their shelters earlier than it grew to become clear the space station was not within the path of the particles.

This incident got here on the identical day NASA announced SpaceX as the corporate that will deorbit the Worldwide House Station in 2030.

In a publish on X/Twitter on Thursday morning, the U.S. House Command said:

Extra on RESURS-P1

According to Leo Labs, a California firm that gives collision avoidance service and real-time conjunction alerts for satellite operators:

The roughly 6,000 kg [13,000 lb] satellite was in an almost round orbit at about 355 km [220 miles up] on the time of the occasion.

Whereas it’s not but clear what prompted the breakup of the Russian satellite, the satellite ended its service again in 2021. So what was beforehand one defunct space object is now greater than 100 items. With the growing quantities of satellites, each operational and previous their helpful lives, accumulating in orbit, the crowded space round Earth is changing into increasingly more of a priority. In accordance with the Orbiting Now web site, there are presently greater than 10,000 energetic satellites in orbit round Earth, with almost 3,000 inactive satellites nonetheless in orbit.

The speculation of a coming cascade of collisions is named the Kessler syndrome. Uncontrolled collisions might ultimately make areas of low-Earth orbit unusable.

Backside line: A Russian satellite breakup on June 26, 2024, despatched astronauts aboard the Worldwide House Station to their shelters till it grew to become clear the particles was not within the path of the space station.