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.
