In a tense hour aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, nine astronauts were forced to seek shelter as debris from a defunct Russian satellite threatened their orbital home. The incident highlights the growing concern over space debris and its potential impact on space exploration.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Russian Earth observation satellite, Resurs-P1, which had ceased operations in 2021, unexpectedly broke apart at approximately 4:00 PM BST. U.S. Space Command reported that the fragmentation created over 100 pieces of trackable debris, with space-tracking firm LeoLabs later detecting at least 180 fragments.
As a precautionary measure, NASA instructed the ISS crew, including two Boeing passengers currently unable to return to Earth due to a malfunctioning Starliner capsule, to take refuge in their docked spacecraft. These vehicles, including the Soyuz, Crew Dragon, and Starliner, are believed to offer superior protection against space debris compared to the ISS itself.
The cause of Resurs-P1's disintegration remains unclear. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, suggested possibilities ranging from an onboard explosion to a collision with another piece of space junk.
This event occurs in the increasingly crowded low-Earth orbit, where thousands of satellites operate, including SpaceX's Starlink network and China's Tiangong space station. LeoLabs estimates it could take weeks to months before the hazard from this debris cloud passes.
Notably, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency that operated Resurs-P1, has yet to comment on the incident, raising questions about international cooperation and responsibility in space debris management.
