The International Space Station just swerved to avoid space junk

This image made from NASA TV shows the International Space Station, seen from the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, on Saturday, April 24, 2021. | NASA via Associated Press

The space station was in danger of a potential collision with space junk. Here’s what happened

The International Space Station had to adjust its orbit to avoid colliding with a piece of debris, said Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, on Friday, according to CNN.

• “Five minutes ago, the ISS avoided a conjunction with the U.S. space debris, the Pegasus carrier rocket remnants,” Rogozin said, per the report.
• According to Sky News, the mission control specialists “calculated how to correct the orbit” of the 100-meter wide space station to protect it from the collision.
• The engines of Russia’s expendable Progress cargo spacecraft, which is currently docked on the station, will be used to boost the station 1.2 km higher, per the report.

Earlier this week, NASA postponed a spacewalk, originally planned for Tuesday, when it received a space debris warning from ISS.

• “Due to lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the Nov. 30 spacewalk until more information is available,” the agency said via Twitter.

NASA received a debris notification for the space station. Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the Nov. 30 spacewalk until more information is available. https://t.co/HJCXFWBd3Y pic.twitter.com/swj5hqusSo

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 30, 2021

According to Sky News, NASA tracks more than 23,000 pieces of space junk, though there is much more debris too small to track but large enough to threaten human spaceflight.

And these debris travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph. “Even tiny paint flecks can damage a spacecraft when traveling at these velocities,” said NASA.