NASA Forced to Fire ISS Thrusters to Dodge Russian Space Debris

On Monday evening, NASA was forced to fire thrusters on the International Space Station (ISS) in order to avoid a collision with Russian space debris.

Russia’s reckless anti-satellite weapons test last year involved launching a ground-based missile to knock out a target in orbit. That target was the Cosmos 1408 satellite, and it caused a new debris field other objects orbiting the Earth need to avoid.

One piece of that debris was set to collide with the ISS yesterday, so NASA took avoiding action(Opens in a new window) by firing the Progress 81 thrusters for just over 5 minutes (305 seconds). The Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM) was performed to shift the space station away from the “predicted track of a fragment of Russian Cosmos 1408 debris.”

Once the maneuver was completed, the ISS altitude had increased by 2/10 of a mile at apogee and 8/10 of a mile at perigree.

Russia’s test generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris according to the State Department, which concluded “Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of outer space, and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical.”

It’s unlikely the Russian government will take much notice of what’s happening to the ISS, even if it does have cosmonauts on board the station. Earlier this year, Russia decided it’s going to end its involvement in the space station and will leave after 2024.