Russian anti-satellite missile test threatens space station

NASA says Russia has targeted one of its satellites with anti-satellite missiles, the wreckage of which has spread thousands of pieces into orbit, which will continue to pose a threat to the International Space Station now and in the years to come.

U.S. officials say Russia hit its own satellite with a space missile during a weapons test, the destruction of which has caused debris to accumulate in Earth's orbit, not only on the International Space Station (ISS). ), But will continue to do so in the years to come.

Russia, on the other hand, has not confirmed any such experience.

According to the news agency Reuters, the US space agency NASA says that after the Russian test of the space missile, the crew of seven people on the space station were instructed to take shelter in the capsules attached to the space station as a precaution. So that if necessary, get out of there immediately.

According to NASA, a space station orbiting the Earth at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles passed in or near a pile of debris every 90 minutes, but NASA experts determined that after passing a third time, the crew space station It would be safer to go back inside.

NASA says crews have also been instructed to temporarily close entrances to several parts of the space station.

NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a statement that "NASA will monitor the wreckage in the coming days and beyond to ensure the safety of its crew in orbit."

The ISS currently has four American, one German and two Russian astronauts.

Experts say that the debris created by the experiment of weapons to destroy satellites in orbit is dangerous in space, as it not only collides with other objects in space, but its fragments can also fall to the ground at arrow speeds. Are

The Russian military and Defense Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment.

Thousands of pieces

The U.S. space command said in a statement that the direct-to-air anti-satellite missile fired by Russia caused 1,500 pieces that could be tracked, while it was possible that thousands of small pieces and many more. 

Russia has "deliberately neglected the security, safety and stability of space for all nations," said James Dickinson, the US military's chief of staff at the space command.

He said the missile test would continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for many years to come. Satellite and space missions will be in jeopardy and more efforts will have to be made to avoid a collision.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken condemned the Russian missile test as "reckless and irresponsible". A Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said the missile test showed that there was a need for concrete rules of conduct in space.

According to Nelson, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only its own but also American and international partners' astronauts on the space station.

The incident happened just four days after a new group of astronauts arrived at the space station.

American King Chair, Tom Marshburn, NASA astronaut Kayla Baron and European space agency staff member Matthias Maurer from Germany arrived at the space station on a six-month scientific mission.

Russia is not the only country to use anti-satellite missiles in space; the United States conducted its first such test in 1959 when satellites were rare. India launches one of its satellites in 2019

Such experiments pose a threat to many of the operations carried out by satellites in space, which run daily life, including banking and GPS.