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NASA: ISS safe from debris of "Kosmos 1275"
NASA gave the all-clear to the international space station Monday, assuring its astronauts that they would not need to steer away from an orbiting satellite debris, media reported Tuesday.
Experts had been keeping close tabs on the debris all day, and ascertained that the shuttle Discovery would remain at a safe distance from a debris of a Soviet Union-era satellite.
"We will not need to perform the debris avoidance manoeuvre," U.S. mission control in Houston told the seven-member crew on board the space shuttle Discovery.
The piece of the Kosmos 1275 will pass about half a mile from the space station at 2:14 a.m. CDT Tuesday, said Bill Jeffs, a spokesman at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The Discovery with seven astronauts was en route to the space station and scheduled to dock Tuesday. A maneuver by the space station would have forced Discovery to adjust its docking time by seconds or minutes, according to LeRoy Cain, the shuttle program's deputy manager.
Kosmos 1275 satellite was disintegrated shortly after it was launched in 1981.
On Thursday, another space debris, which came uncomfortably close at 220 miles above Earth, forced three crew -- two Americans and a Russian, to prepare for an evacuation by moving to an escape capsule.
Apart from it, a two-satellite wreck in a much higher orbit last month also spotlighted the growing problem of space junk.
"We seem to have a bit more than we've had in the past," Flight director Paul Dye said Monday evening.
"It's a little bit like traffic on the freeway. Sometimes it's bad and sometimes it's not, and sometimes you can figure out why and sometimes you're not sure where it came from."
NASA has moved the space station to dodge debris eight times, most recently in August.
“发现”号与国际空间站对接 卫星碎片来袭
美国航空航天局16日面临新难题。“发现”号航天飞机预计17日与国际空间站对接，同一时间，一枚破碎卫星碎片也在接近空间站。
航天局当地时间16日晚认定，卫星碎片不对空间站构成威胁，空间站和航天飞机无需调整位置或飞行轨迹，使空间站和“发现”号宇航员长出一口气，
航天局16日早些时候披露，一枚卫星碎片向国际空间站靠近，可能于17日早些时候到达距空间站大约800米处。
航天局发言人比尔·杰夫告诉美联社记者，这枚碎片来自1981年破碎的苏联“宇宙1275”号卫星。杰夫说，自己眼下并不知道这枚碎片的大小。
按照航天局轨道碎片研究人员马克·马特尼的说法，“宇宙1275”号卫星的破碎原因迄今不得而知，推测可能是因撞上另一个事先未能探测到的太空物体。马特尼说，卫星破碎当时产生大约310枚碎片，缓慢落向较低轨道。
进一步观察和分析后，航天局16日晚些时候认定，卫星碎片与空间站距离可保持在安全范围内，国际空间站无需启动发动机，改变运行位置。
这一机构的发言人说，如果航天局决定调整空间站位置，则“发现”号必须略微调整飞行轨迹，以完成与空间站对接。
航天局资料显示，国际空间站过去先后8次主动“闪身”躲避，最近一次发生于去年8月。
这是国际空间站将近一个星期内第二次受到太空垃圾威胁。一枚长约1厘米的旧火箭或航天飞机助推装置残片12日逼近空间站。由于发现时间较晚，空间站内宇航员不得不进入逃生舱暂避。
这一次，航天局有充足时间决定是否让空间站闪躲。
“发现”号航天飞机于美国东部时间15日19时43分（北京时间16日7时43分）从佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心发射升空，乘员7人。
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发表于 2016-8-12 16:30:38