If you think junk lying around on the roads is bad on Earth, imagine how much worse it is in space.
Any junk left lying aroud in space is moving at a good rate of speed up in orbit around our planet. In fact, debris left in space from unused satellites and other man-made objects can pose such a hazard that NASA officials spent a good portion of yesterday determining if space junk could pose a hazard to the International Space Station.
Officials said Wednesday that they don’t think the station will need to dodge a large piece of a spent European rocket booster – believed to be as large as 200 square feet – by firing shuttle thrusters.
“It’s looking like we probably won’t have to do that,” said John McCullough, chief of the flight directors office.
Managers considered delaying today’s spacewalk, if necessary, but determined that spacewalkers Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang could proceed as scheduled with the replacement of coolant tanks outside the station.
It won’t be until this morning that the probability of a collision is considered reliable. The station must move if that chance exceeds 1 in 10,000.
A decision on whether to initiate a two-hour boosting maneuver could come late in the spacewalk, which is scheduled to start around 5:20 p.m.
The chunk of an Ariane 5 rocket was expected to make its closest approach just after 11 a.m. Friday.
McCullough said tracking on Wednesday showed it could fly within two miles of the station, but projections were refined with each orbit.
“It’s a big piece,” he said, adding that it would be easier to track as a result.
On Wednesday, crews took another step toward furnishing the station for serious science research after nearly 11 years of construction.
Astronauts began installing in the U.S. Destiny lab two racks that will be used to study materials and fluids in microgravity and a freezer for storing biological samples.
Discovery will remain at the space station until Tuesday.
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