NASA postponed a spacewalk on Tuesday owing to an increasingly common threat: space debris flying too close to the International Space Station (ISS).
Two astronauts were intended to put on spacesuits, leave the International Space Station, and spend six and a half hours fixing a broken antenna system. However, NASA said early Tuesday that the ISS had received a "debris notice" the night before.
Some Twitter netizens were perplexed by the warning after seeing the most recent online post. It's unclear what the debris notice meant, such as when or how far debris was predicted to pass by the ISS. One of the internet users wondered if the space debris was nearing the International Space Station, or if the ISS would be passing through the debris as well.
NASA did not share more information over the issue nor mention Russia's recent anti-satellite missile launch in its newest release. Since this is the case, the country's space activity, which resulted in the destruction of one of Russia's dead rockets, cannot be held responsible for the postponed spacewalk.
On Nov. 15, an anti-satellite weapon test was performed. Space scientists condemned it since it resulted in additional space trash.
NASA's ISS Spacewalk Delayed
NASA's spacewalk was initially slated for Nov. 30, according to CNN. Kayla Barron and Dr. Thomas Marsburn were intended to lead this exercise. They will instead float outdoors.
They were expected to go outside the International Space Station at 7:10 a.m. ET. NASA said the effort, which is expected to take roughly six hours, will restore the massive space laboratory's faulty communications antenna.
The burner from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew-2 mission astronauts, is seen near a star after lifting off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 23, 2021. - SpaceX launched its third crew to the International Space Station an hour before sunrise Friday, recycling a rocket and spacecraft for the first time. The Crew-2 mission, the first involving a European, blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:49 am Eastern Time (0949 GMT).
"Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the spacewalk planned for Tuesday, Nov. 30, until more information is available," NASA said in a statement.
According to an update released Tuesday evening after spending additional time analyzing the debris's orbit, NASA decided that it was not in danger of colliding with astronauts during the scheduled spacewalk period. However, NASA has not yet verified the new timeframe for the scheduled spacewalk.
Debris Interfering ISS Not The First Time
It isn't the first time that space debris has interfered with ISS operations. For years, the quantity of trash in Earth's orbit has been growing as aging spacecraft disintegrate, dead satellites collide, and governments test anti-satellite weapons, resulting in individual satellites exploding into thousands of pieces. According to the European Space Agency, an average of 12 incidents have happened per year for the past two decades.
Space debris is disrupting NASA's timetable in more ways than one. It's perilous. Hundreds of thousands of fragments of obsolete satellites and rockets are hurtling worldwide at a speed of nearly ten times that of a bullet. If space debris collides with the ISS, it has the potential to tear holes in the orbiting laboratory, as it has in the past.
The impact of a piece of debris on a spacewalking astronaut might be fatal.
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