Expedition 66 Astronauts Received Alert From NASA About Approaching Space Debris After Russian Anti-Satellite Test

A piece of new information was relayed from NASA's Expedition 66 mission following an incident on the low Earth orbit. The event involved an activity that Russian experts held as part of their anti-satellite test. Last Monday, a specialized impactor from Russia propelled towards an old and abandoned Soviet satellite known as the Cosmos 1408.

The impact from the said operation caused a shock and eventually led to an unexpected but moderate explosion, shattering the old satellite into fragments. The pieces of the shattered Cosmos 1408 were scattered throughout the space and some of the debris reached the perimeter of the International Space Station (ISS). Due to the incident, the astronauts from Expedition 66 were alerted and told to hide in their bunkers.

Russian Anti-Satellite Debris Almost Hit the ISS

(Photo : Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center/ WikiCommons)

NASA engineering expert and astronaut Mark Vande Hei documented the recent Russian anti-satellite test via an audio recording. Vande Hei witnessed how the fragments propelled just right outside their posts and immediately contacted several colleagues to check on them. It is the second time for Vande Hei to conduct a long-term mission in the space lab.

An unknown caller, suspected to be one of NASA colleagues, apologized for an untimely alarm. According to a report by Space, the caller said that a satellite breakup recently took place and requested an immediate review of one of the space station's protocols called the safe haven procedure. The caller uses an unnamed ground controller but should be from one of the astronauts since each crewmate has been equipped with capsule communicators or capcoms.

Vande Hei returned the call right after the information had been provided and relayed the best possible course that could apply under the directives that the ground control usually gives in similar scenarios. Vande Hei passed the information to the caller, requested them to repeat the steps, and was relayed to other crewmates after it was clarified.

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Russia Denied Risks of Cosmos 1408 Bombardment to Space Station

The audio from the Expedition 66 showed that the astronauts successfully followed the safe haven protocol. Among the directives that were implemented was the migration of the astronauts from their current places to the return spacecraft and closing the hatches as part of maintaining the radial modules of the station. According to NASA's November 16 press release, the hatches included Columbus, the Quest Joint Airlock, Kibo, Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, and the Permanent Multipurpose Module or Nauka.

The audio also contained several instructions over the measures tath could be taken once debris from the Russian anti-satellite explosion hits the return spacecraft of four of the seven crewmembers identified as the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The crew that was affected by the incident hid twice due to the unexpected situation last Monday.

The unfortunate event was acknowledged and condemned by NASA administrator and US State Department authority Bill Nelson. The expert initially informed that there would be additional risks over the explorations conducted on low Earth orbit. The Russian officials denied any risks and threats from the anti-satellite bombardment to the ISS.