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NEW YORK: US state department spokesman Ned Price on Monday slammed Russia for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible” missile test that blew up its own satellite, creating a debris cloud that forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive action. “Earlier today, the Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive satellite test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its own satellites,” Price said. “The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that now threaten interests of all nations.”
Nasa has not yet commented, but its Russian counterpart Roscosmos downplayed the incident. “The orbit of the object, which forced the crew today to move into spacecraft according to standard procedures, has moved away from the ISS orbit. The station is in the green zone,” the agency tweeted. “Friends, everything is regular with us! We continue to work according to the programme,” tweeted Anton Shkaplerov, the current commander of the outpost.
Astronauts on the ISS were forced to prepare for a possible evacuation. Earlier, Nasa astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer floated into their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for safety, according to a report by Spaceflight Now. At the same time, Russian cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as Nasa astronaut Mark Vande Hei, boarded a Soyuz spacecraft on the Russian segment, the outlet added. Both spacecraft can be used as lifeboats to bring crew back to Earth in an emergency.
US space industry analyst Seradata tweeted the debris might have been caused by a missile test. “ASAT missile strike now suspected,” the company tweeted, referring to an old Soviet satellite. ASATs are high-tech space weapons possessed by few nations — only the US, Russia, China and India have demonstrated the ability to shoot down their own satellites.
Nasa has not yet commented, but its Russian counterpart Roscosmos downplayed the incident. “The orbit of the object, which forced the crew today to move into spacecraft according to standard procedures, has moved away from the ISS orbit. The station is in the green zone,” the agency tweeted. “Friends, everything is regular with us! We continue to work according to the programme,” tweeted Anton Shkaplerov, the current commander of the outpost.
Astronauts on the ISS were forced to prepare for a possible evacuation. Earlier, Nasa astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer floated into their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for safety, according to a report by Spaceflight Now. At the same time, Russian cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as Nasa astronaut Mark Vande Hei, boarded a Soyuz spacecraft on the Russian segment, the outlet added. Both spacecraft can be used as lifeboats to bring crew back to Earth in an emergency.
US space industry analyst Seradata tweeted the debris might have been caused by a missile test. “ASAT missile strike now suspected,” the company tweeted, referring to an old Soviet satellite. ASATs are high-tech space weapons possessed by few nations — only the US, Russia, China and India have demonstrated the ability to shoot down their own satellites.
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