ISS may move to dodge space junk

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 1 (UPI) -- NASA says the International Space Station may carry out an avoidance maneuver to dodge space junk created by a collision of two satellites.

If deemed necessary, the maneuver will be performed by thrusters on a Progress spacecraft docked at the station to adjust the orbital lab's speed by half a meter per second to change its orbit and move it out of potential danger, Florida Today reported Friday.

Preliminary projections show debris created when a defunct Russian satellite collided with an operational Iridium Communications satellite on Feb. 10, 2009, could pass within 6 miles of the station.

Station commander Dmitry Kondratyev and flight engineers Cady Coleman and Paulo Nespoli postponed some planned activities to prepare for the possible maneuver late Friday, NASA said.