Space junk disrupts astronauts, forcing them into docked capsules

Space junk has threatened seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) – home to four Americans, one German and two Russians, forcing them to seek shelter in their docked capsules and disrupting their work.

The US Space Command said on Monday that it was tracking a field of orbiting debris, the apparent result of a satellite breakup. The situation had the debris coming uncomfortably close to the space station on subsequent orbits, and required the astronauts to close and then reopen several compartments, including the European lab, every 1 1/2 hours until bedtime.

Experts say anti-satellite weapons that shatter their targets pose a space hazard by creating a cloud of fragments that can collide with other objects, which in turn can set off a chain reaction of projectiles through Earth’s orbit.

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