CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- NASA on Sunday alerted the astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station to be on the lookout for a piece of space junk that could threaten the two spacecraft at around the time of Monday’s scheduled spacewalk.
Mission Control informed Discovery Commander Lee Archambault about the orbital debris at approximately 1:30 p.m. CDT and told the Bellwood-native to perform a “debris avoidance maneuver” using thruster jets to re-orientate the shuttle and station.
Archambault completed the maneuver at about 3:30 p.m. CDT, moving the shuttle-space station stack 180 degrees to the "undock attitude." He essentially guided Discovery to a position in front of the space station to create more drag and slow both spacecraft by about a foot per second. Over the course of several hours, the maneuver will lower the orbit of the shuttle and ISS by enough distance to avoid the space junk.
NASA said the debris is from a Chinese rocket that broke up in orbit in March 2000 and measured approximately four inches in diameter. The space agency said the path of the space junk is erratic which makes it a potential threat. The path of the debris would have crossed the shuttle-station orbit repeatedly during the next several days. The maneuver performed by Archambault eliminated that risk.
There’s no indication of any immediate danger to the combined crews of ISS and Discovery which includes 10 astronauts. Belleville-native Sandra Magnus is among the crew members.
On March 12, a close-call involving space junk forced the space station crew to evacuate into the orbiting lab’s escape capsule. The 5-inch fragment of an old rocket motor came within striking distance of ISS. The debris strike could have caused catastrophic Damage to the station.
Mission Control gave the astronauts part of the day off on Sunday so they can rest up for the third and final spacewalk of the Discovery mission on Monday.
One item on Sunday afternoon's agenda was a full test of the urine processor that was delivered by Discovery. It's a critical part of the space station's new water-recycling system, which NASA would like to get working before the population at the orbiting outpost doubles to six at the end of May.
Discovery is scheduled to leave the space station on Wednesday.
On the web: NASA
E-Mail Story
Print Story
