14 DAY TRIAL // A piece of space junk from an old Russian satellite will force the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) to seek refuge inside the two Soyuz space capsule docked to the space lab. The debris will zip within 9 miles (14.8 kilometers) from the outpost today, March 24.
The risk is too great for the crew to ignore. Mission Control advised the astronauts to climb into the lifeboats. This measure will ensure their safety in case the ISS hull is breached, and atmosphere starts venting out into space.
This is unlikely to happen, but no one is willing to take any chances. The space junk will make its closest approach to the ISS at 2:38 am EDT (0638 GMT), Space reports.
“We're not too concerned about it, but it's too late to do a [debris avoidance maneuver],” the NASA ISS flight director Jerry Jason said yesterday, while communicating with ISS Commander and NASA astronaut, Daniel Burbank.