Russian anti-satellite missile test endangers space station crew, says NASA

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ Russia fired a missile into one of its own satellites in a weapons test on Monday generated an orbital debris field that endangered the International Space Station and will pose an ongoing hazard to space activities “for years to come,” US officials said.

The seven-member space station crew — four US astronauts, a German astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts — were directed to take shelter in their docked spaceship capsules for two hours after the test as a precaution to allow for a quick getaway had it been necessary, NASA said.

The research lab, orbiting about 402 km above Earth, continued to pass through or near the debris cluster every 90 minutes, but NASA specialists determined it was safe for the crew to return to the station’s interior after the third pass, the agency said. The crew was also ordered to seal off hatches to several modules of the space station for the time being, according to NASA.

“NASA will continue monitoring the debris in the coming days and beyond to ensure the safety of our crew in orbit,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in the statement.