A piece of space debris damaged the ISS

Specialists from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA discovered the hole during a routine inspection.

manipulator Canadarm2.The hand performs station maintenance, moving cargo and even astronauts. She is also responsible for “space fishing” - capturing ships and delivering them to the station.

The inspection showed that the breach originated fromsmall space debris that cannot be tracked. It could be particles of stones or dust, paint shards from satellites, or something else. The researchers note that they could not avoid the collision - they cannot track objects the size of a soccer ball or smaller.

“Despite the blow, the analysis shows thatthat the performance of the manipulator is not affected. Damage is limited to a small section of the arm of the manipulator and a thermal blanket, ”- noted in the message NASA.

Chinese device docked with orbital station

The robotic arm continued to perform its planned operations. The researchers added that it does not need repairs yet.

NASA noted that the problem of space debrishas existed for a long time and will become more and more relevant as mankind sends more spacecraft into orbit. According to the US Space Surveillance Network, there are now about 200,000 small objects in space that can threaten satellites and other devices.

In a study presented last monthat the European Conference on Space Debris, it is said that the problem of space debris is underestimated, and its amount by 2100 will grow 50 times.

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