United States: The International Space Station (ISS) was to perform three collision avoidance maneuvers (CAM) in 2022. The space station in orbit fires its engines to get away from oncoming space objects during collision avoidance maneuvers. Since its launch in 1999, the orbiting space lab has performed 29 debris avoidance maneuvers through May 2021.
The ISS orbits the Earth at an average altitude of 402 kilometers per hour, completing one orbit every 90 minutes. Because the orbital station is docked in space, it is constantly threatened by space debris, which can be a cosmic object of any size. Fortunately, there are monitoring systems that help the station avoid such hazards.
NASA's Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris Dr. Jer Chi Liu said at an event in India that NASA had planned or assisted in the execution of 18 CAMs in 2022.
Also Read: 91 tech giants laid off around 24,000 employees within 15 days
He also said that the US Space Force was monitoring more than 47,000 pieces of space debris (each larger than 10 cm) and tracking their orbital paths for any imminent collision risk.
Millions of smaller pieces of space debris also pose a threat, but they cannot be tracked. Dr. Liu said that the International Space Station (ISS) is protected by 500 different shields known as Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD) impact protection shields.
While the US module on the International Space Station has shields to protect against debris 1 cm and smaller, the other modules are not as protected.
Also Read: IT Ministry creating consolidated view on skill games for all states
But why are space debris of various sizes a concern? According to NASA, the average impact speed of orbital debris with another space object is about 10km/s and can reach up to 15km/s.
For comparison, this is ten times the speed of a bullet, and one can imagine the effect of such a collision.
Also Read: A23 and Galaxy A14 5G from Samsung are released in India
According to NASA's official blog, the space station must avoid space debris on average about once a year. The space agency explained, "If another object is predicted to come within a few kilometers of the International Space Station (ISS), the ISS will normally move away from the object if the probability of a collision exceeds 1 in 10,000." Is."