NASA cancels astronaut spacewalk due to debris from Russian rocket that posed a threat to the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) successfully performed an evasive maneuver on December 21 at 15:42 (EET).

fragment of a Russian rocket.

What is known

A fragment of the Fregat-SB upper stage passed at a distance of less than 400 meters from the station. Therefore, it was decided to make a maneuver to reduce the risk of damage to the ISS.

Despite the successful execution of the maneuver,The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was forced to celebrate the spacewalk of American astronauts. The task of specialists Frank Rubio (Frank Rubio) and Josh Cassada (Josh Cassada) was to install new solar panels on the outside of the station.

NASA says the Mission Control Center inHouston knew about the wreckage. Part of the upper stage was tracked for several days. She was always in the yellow or green range, which made it possible to do without additional maneuvers.

However, on the morning of December 21, the Fregat-SB fragment went into red range, so the space agency had to make adjustments to its plans to ensure the safety of the astronauts and the ISS.