ISS Fires Thrusters to Avoid Oncoming Space Junk

The International Space Station (ISS) fired its thrusters on Thursday to avoid a piece of space junk. The maneuver, which lasted for 21.5 seconds, moved the ISS down towards our planet by about 1,640 feet (500 meters).

The debris was a fragment of an old satellite, and it was estimated to be about the size of a softball. It was not clear how close the debris came to the ISS, but NASA officials said that the maneuver was a precautionary measure.

The ISS is constantly monitored for potential collisions with space junk. In fact, the station has made more than 30 course corrections since 1999 to avoid debris.

The problem of space junk is becoming increasingly serious. There are now millions of pieces of debris orbiting Earth, and they are getting larger and larger as they collide with each other. This debris poses a serious threat to the ISS and other spacecraft.

NASA is working on a number of ways to mitigate the problem of space junk. One of these is to develop a system that can track and remove debris from orbit.

In the meantime, the ISS will continue to make course corrections to avoid debris. This is just one of the many challenges that the astronauts on the ISS face on a daily basis.