U.S. Space Command said it was tracking a field of orbiting debris, the apparent result of a satellite breakup.
The Associated Press
“It was dangerous. It was reckless. It was irresponsible,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Even a fleck of paint can do major damage when orbiting at 17,500 mph . Something big, upon impact, could be catastrophic. NASA Mission Control said the heightened threat from the debris might continue for another couple days and continue to interrupt the astronauts' science research and other work. Four of the seven crew members arrived at the orbiting outpost Thursday night.
The U.S. Space Command said it was tracking the field of orbiting debris. NASA had made no comment by late afternoon, and there was no word late Monday from Russia about the missile strike.in 2007 also resulted in countless debris. One of those pieces threatened to come dangerously close to the space station last week. While it later was dismissed as a risk, NASA had the station move anyway.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said it will take days if not weeks and months to catalogue the latest wreckage and confirm their orbits. The fragments will begin to spread out over time, due to atmospheric drag and other forces, he said in an email.
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