The seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station were ordered to shelter in the transport capsules that originally brought them to the station early in the morning on Tuesday, November 16, 2021. Over 1500 pieces of dangerous and deadly space debris endangered the safety of the ISS due to a Russian missile test that completely destroyed one of their own satellites.
Seemingly unfazed by the event, astronaut Vande Hei said in a Monday radio transmission, “Thanks for the crazy but well-coordinated day. We really appreciated all the situational awareness you gave us. It was certainly a great way to bond as a crew, starting off our very first workday in space.”
Russia admitted to testing a DA-ASAT, or direct-ascent anti-satellite, striking their satellite. The Guardian tells readers, “US officials on Monday accused Moscow of ‘dangerous and irresponsible behavior’ after it conducted an anti-satellite weapon’s test that threatened the lives of the seven astronauts on board the ISS.” DA-ASAT tests are dangerous by nature, creating more debris in space. As a result of the test, the Russian Spacecraft, Tselina-D, which had orbited Earth since 1982, was successfully destroyed. This created more than 1500 pieces of deadly space debris and posed an enormous threat to the International Space Station.
A mission controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, told astronauts that “We can support you getting into suits at your discretion, it’s your call … and head up 15 minutes to the next debris field pass TCA [time of closest approach],” meaning that it was up to the astronauts whether they wanted to take extra precautions or not and put on their spacesuits.
The astronauts ended up spending roughly two hours inside their capsules and eventually were cleared to exit the space. For the first three days, the ISS did not have to perform any emergency debris-dodging actions. The ISS has since been moved to the “green zone.” That means that the debris has, for now, moved far away from the space station.
US Space Command commander Gen. James Dickinson said after the incident, “Russia has demonstrated a deliberate disregard for the security, safety, stability, and long-term sustainability of the space domain for all nations. The debris created by Russia’s DA-ASAT will continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come, putting satellites and space missions at risk, as well as forcing more collision avoidance maneuvers. Space activities underpin our way of life and this kind of behavior is simply irresponsible.”
Russia denies putting any astronauts or spacecraft in danger by its actions: “the fragments emerging after the defunct Tselina-D Soviet-era satellite was destroyed during the tests will not pose any threat to orbital stations, satellites and space activity.”
However, “the debris will remain in orbit for years and potentially for decades, posing a significant risk to the crew on the International Space Station and other human spaceflight activities, as well as multiple countries’ satellites.”
Many other countries also condemned the missile test, such as France who described it as “destabilising, irresponsible and likely to have consequences for a very long time in the space environment and for all actors in space,” and Germany who called on all the states to “engage constructively in this process and in the development of principles for responsible behaviour in space.”
Many countries, including the US, Germany, and France, are now calling for new rules involving weapon launches in space insight of recent events. It is unclear whether this will happen, but for now, countries are grateful that the ISS astronauts are safe.
