International Space Station (ISS) makes emergency maneuver to avoid collision with debris

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) carried out an "avoidance manoeuvre" on Tuesday to prevent from being hit by a piece of debris, US space agency NASA said, calling for better management of objects in Earth's orbit.

Russian and US flight controllers together carried out a two-and-a-half-minute operation to adjust the station's orbit and move further away to avoid a collision. The debris passed the ISS at a distance of just about 1.4 kilometres, NASA said.

Two Russians and one American crew member moved near their Soyuz spacecraft as the manoeuvre began, so they could evacuate if necessary. NASA said the precaution was taken out of extreme caution. The astronauts were able to return to their normal activities after the procedure, according to NASA.

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NASA chief Jim Bridenstine informed on Twitter after the manoeuvre was completed in the wee hours of Wednesday. “The astronauts are coming out of safe haven," he wrote. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said that debris was actually a piece of a 2018 Japanese rocket which broke up into 77 different pieces last year.

The ISS usually orbits roughly 420 kilometres above the Earth, at a speed of about 17,000 miles per hour. At such a velocity, even a small object could cause severe damage to a solar panel or other facets of the space station. Such a manoeuvre is necessary on a regular basis. NASA said the ISS had been move 25 times between 1999 and 2018.

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The frequent relocation of ISS

Bridenstine said was the third manoeuvre of the ISS this year. The operations may become more frequent considering the Earth's orbit has become littered with pieces of satellites, rockets and other objects launched into space over the last sixty years. Accidental or deliberate collisions, such as anti-satellite missile launches by India in 2019 and China in 2007, can break objects in space even further and create added risk.

Civilians want the Office of Space to take over the surveillance of space junk, a job that is currently occupied by the military.

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(Image credits: NASA)