ISS and Chinese satellite debris
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Russian mission control has indicated that the debris left over from destruction of a Chinese satellite in 2007 poses a “danger” to the International Space Station. Key quote from a Russian official:
“If the calculations show that the debris is approaching the station at an unacceptably close range, the six astronauts will receive the order to take shelter in the two Russian Soyuz spacecraft which are docked with the ISS.”
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Russian mission control has indicated that the debris left over from destruction of a Chinese satellite in 2007 poses a “danger” to the International Space Station. Key quote from a Russian official:
“If the calculations show that the debris is approaching the station at an unacceptably close range, the six astronauts will receive the order to take shelter in the two Russian Soyuz spacecraft which are docked with the ISS.”
Seems the plot of the movie Gravity is being reenacted. Only the nationalities have changed!
In Gravity, it was a missile strike by the Russians on a defunct satellite that caused the debris field and it was a Chinese space station Tiangong, that sheltered Dr. Ryan Stone and provide a capsule for her safe return.
You have it backwards. The Chinese anti-sat test on a defunct satellite, which left a lot of junk in orbit that even now is a threat to ISS, occurred prior to the making of Gravity. I think the filmmakers changed it to the Russians and had the Chinese station the savior for political reasons. They figured they could sell more DVDs to China than to Russia, and didn’t want to offend them.