Last night, astronauts aboard the International Space Station had to seek safety after a Russian satellite fragmented into over 100 pieces. NASA instructed the station’s nine crew members to retreat to their spacecraft as a precaution when the debris was detected.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams entered their Boeing Starliner capsule, which has been attached to the station since its initial manned mission began on June 6. Meanwhile, three American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut took refuge in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which had transported them to the station in March. The remaining crew, consisting of one American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts, sheltered in the Russian Soyuz capsule that had brought them to the station in September of the previous year.
Approximately an hour later, the crew left their spacecraft and returned to their normal activities on the station, as per NASA’s updates.
Speculation on Satellite Break-up
The satellite, a Russian Earth observation platform that was declared non-operational in 2022, broke apart under mysterious circumstances. There was initial speculation about whether Russia had targeted it with an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile from a ground site, but experts, including Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell, considered this unlikely.
“It’s difficult to accept that such a large satellite was used as an ASAT target,” McDowell stated. “However, with current Russian military activities, anything is possible.”
This incident recalled a contentious episode in 2021 when Russia conducted a missile test that destroyed a decommissioned satellite, leading to significant international outcry. That event, which occurred prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, resulted in a large cloud of space debris.
Analysts like McDowell suggested that the recent satellite break-up might have been caused by an internal malfunction, such as an explosion due to residual fuel.
The US Space Command, which monitored the resulting debris, indicated that there was no immediate danger posed to other satellites in orbit.
