Update 4/26/21 2:09 p.m. ET : consort to a program line from U.S. Space Command , asobtainedby the AP , the near collision was in reality a false alert . Space Command spokeswoman Lt . Col . Erin Dick say the initial reports indicated a possible scourge to CrewDragon , but “ we quickly gain this was a reporting error , ” she wrote in an email . There “ was never a collision terror because there was no physical object at risk of colliding with the capsule , ” accord to Dick , adding that more information will be made usable subsequently this week following an investigation . Original clause appear below .
cosmonaut with SpaceX ’s Crew-2 mission are now safely aboard the International Space Station , but a tense moment come forth to begin with when an unnamed piece of space debris threatened the CrewDragon capsule .
Approximately eight hours afterlaunchfrom Kennedy Space Center on Friday April 23 , Sarah Gilles , lead distance operation engineer at SpaceX , break the crew as they were preparing for bed .
The SpaceX Crew Dragon seen during its approach to the ISS docking port, with the Kibo laboratory module in the foreground.Image: NASA TV
“ For knowingness , we have identified a late - breaking potential conjunction with a fair close miss aloofness to Dragon , as such we do need you to immediately proceed with suit put on and securing yourselves in keister , ” shesaid . “ We will be erring on the side of caution to get you guys in a better configuration , ” adding that the sentence of near approach to the mystery aim would be in about 20 minutes , or 1:43 p.m. EDT ( 10:43 a.m. PDT ) on Saturday , April 24 .
So alternatively of locomote to sleep , NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur , along with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide , had to put on their sleek SpaceX spacesuits , whip themselves back into their seats , and flip down their protective visors . The crew was even secernate to sour on their courting fans , presumably in the consequence of cabin depressurization .
The workout was done out of an abundance of carefulness , but woefully , it ’s emblematic of a burgeoning problem : We now have elbow room too much horseshit in depleted Earth orbit . I ca n’t recall a state of affairs in which astronauts en route to the place station had to scramble back to their seat and brace for impact , but this sort of thing does happen on the ISS .
Last September , for example , the Expedition 63 bunch had to temporarily relocate to the Russian segment when a piece of distance debristhreatenedthe orbital outpost . The offending object — a while from Japan ’s H-2A F40 rocket stagecoach — come to within 0.86 miles ( 1.39 kilometre ) of the ISS , requiring NASA and Russian flight accountant to execute an shunning maneuver . The incident marked the third metre in 2020 that the ISS had to be relocated on account of space debris . The same twelvemonth , a dyad of decommissioned satellitesnearly smashedinto one another , so yeah , this is starting to become normal .
The ISS , at roughly the size of it of a football field , map a big gamey target up there , unlike the 27 - foot - long CrewDragon . Still , with all the stuff in space mighty now — both functional and non - functional — it make sense that even relatively small vehicles like CrewDragon might also number under menace .
As if to underscore this sad fact , ESA just complete afour - day practical conferenceon the depicted object of space rubble . As the infinite representation pointed out in its league backgrounder , about 900,000 target larger than a AAA assault and battery and 128 million objects larger than the thickness of a dime are currently parked in Earth orbits . At speeds approaching 35,000 Roman mile per hr ( 56,000 km / h ) , even tiny spot of detritus “ can seriously damage or disable an in operation space vehicle , ” according to ESA .
Which takes us back to CrewDragon .
gratefully , the blank space junk was far enough away from the abridgment such that no evasive simulated military operation were require . With seconds to go before close approach , missionary work controllers working at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne , California , brought the crew up to swiftness .
“ We believe the objective is far away than anticipated , lower risk of possible conjunction , but please ensure visors are shut down and zippers are closed prior to [ closest approaching ] in approximately 20 bit , ” said Gilles .
The unidentified junk vanish past without incident , and at 1:44 p.m. EDT ( 10:44 p.m. PDT ) , mission command gave the all clear . The crew resumed their pre - sleep preparations , but I ’d be uncoerced to wager their heart rates were a number high than normal .
More : What would happen if all our satellites were suddenly ruin ?
AquanautsNASAOuter spaceSpaceflightSPACEX
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