Astronaut Crew Dragon Nearly Had An Accident Because Of Space Junk

Space junk illustration (doc. MIT)

JAKARTA - Garbage is not only a problem on Earth, but in space, it also has the potential to endanger all activities carried out, including the loss of astronauts' lives.

This space debris is a serious threat to all types of spacecraft, including satellites, the International Space Station (ISS), and even the capsules that carry astronauts into space.

In fact, this space junk comes from every dead satellite in orbit, then the rocket components will be discarded and become trash orbiting the Earth.

BGR reported, recently, space junk almost hit the Crew Dragon capsule that carried four NASA astronauts from Earth to the ISS. The incident began several hours after the launch of the capsule.

Crew members are asked to use safety equipment and secure themselves in seats in case of an emergency. Sure enough, eight hours after the flight, mission control alerted the crew to a possible collision with space debris.

"We have identified the possibility of damage due to the close proximity of space debris to the capsule", said SpaceX's Sarah Gilles to the crew onboard the spacecraft.

Not waiting long, Gilles immediately warned the crew to wear security suits and secure themselves in seats.

Please note, wearing pressurized clothing will ensure the crew can survive if a collision occurs and causes a drop in oxygen pressure. So the team was immediately asked to stop maneuvering to avoid a collision. Luckily, the crew was already on the ISS in a safe state at this time.

For information, finding space debris with a large size is usually quite easy. However, dead satellites and other debris frequently collide with each other, in orbits creating tiny pieces of space junk that travel at high speed and cannot be tracked.

For the worse, the relatively small debris can puncture the walls of the spacecraft and cause depressurization or serious damage to one, or even more components.