International Space Station dodges orbital debris from Russian anti-satellite test

A piece of space junk from a Russian anti-satellite weapons test forced the International Space Station to move.

An uncrewed Progress 81 cargo ship docked at the International Space Station was used by the Russian space agency to move a piece of space debris away from the lab. The Soviet-era satellite was destroyed in a test by Russia.

The engines of the Russian Progress MS-20 transport cargo ship carried out an emergency maneuver to avoid a dangerous approach to the International Space Station.

There have been the worst space debris events.

At 19:03 UTS, #ProgressMS20 performed an unplanned engine burn to avoid a space debris created by #Kosmos1408. Here’s a video by Roscosmos: https://t.co/WvH1SCPC9c pic.twitter.com/yHPymtzqgmJune 16, 2022

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The Progress 81 cargo ship fired its engines for 4 minutes and 34 seconds to move the massive space station away from the path of a fragment of a larger object.

NASA officials wrote that the maneuver had no impact on the operations of the station. The fragment could have passed close to the station without the maneuver.

According to a NASA report, the Soviet electronic and signals intelligence focused satellite was launched in 1982.

The space station was forced to shelter in place due to concerns over the debris caused by the destroyed satellite.

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