The crew on the ISS evacuated to avoid Russian satellite debris

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) on July 16 must be evacuated after a Russian satellite debris suddenly flew near the station.

Evacuation space station avoids Russian satellite debris

According to Russian media, astronauts - consisting of two Russians and one American, entering the Soyuz spacecraft - are connecting to the ISS in the best protected position on the station when the satellite piece suddenly comes near ISS. at 17:00 on July 16 (VN time).

International Space Station (ISS) - (Photo: AFP)

They returned to the station about 10 minutes later when the debris passed. A statement by the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) said operating on ISS then returned to normal.

"This fragment suddenly appeared so people did not have time to adjust ISS trajectory, " the Russian Space Mission Control Center spokesman told TASS News Agency.

The fragment is believed to belong to Meteor-2 - a former Soviet weather satellite that was launched into orbit in 1979.

Cosmic trash , debris from old satellites and other space equipment are constantly flying around the Earth at speeds of up to 10 km / sec.

At this speed, even small objects can pose a significant threat to ISS and spacecraft operating extraterrestrial.