Friday, March 23, 2012

NASA ISS Alert: Space Debris Collision Threat

Mission Control informed Commander Dan Burbank at 12:01 p.m. EDT of a possible close flyby with a piece of space debris from a spent Russian rocket body early Saturday.

Since it is too late to conduct a debris avoidance maneuver to steer the station clear of the object, the crew could be asked to take shelter in its respective Soyuz vehicles after it wakes up late Friday.

Early tracking showed it is unlikely the space junk will come close enough to the station to require action by the crew, but Mission Control will remain vigilant and inform the crew if anything changes later today.

The piece of a Russian satellite is expected to make its closest approach about 2:38 a.m. EDT Saturday.

› Listen to MCC audio of the debris flyby notification (1 Mb MP3)

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