seek shelter in their docked capsules because of
the debris.
At least 1,500 pieces of the destroyed satellite
were sizable enough to show up on radar and
with telescopes, Price said. But countless other
fragments were too small to track, yet still
posed a danger to the space station as well as
orbiting satellites.
Even a fleck of paint can do major damage when
orbiting at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph). Something
big, upon impact, could be catastrophic.
“We are going to continue to make very clear that
we won’t tolerate this kind of activity,” Price said.
He said the U.S. has “repeatedly raised with
Russian counterparts our concerns for a
potential satellite test”.
NASA Mission Control said the heightened
threat from the debris might continue for
another couple days and continue to interrupt
the astronauts’ science research and other work.
Four of the seven crew members arrived at the
orbiting outpost last week.
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who’s midway
through a yearlong mission, called it “a crazy but
well-coordinated day” as he bid Mission Control
good night.
“It was certainly a great way to bond as a crew,
starting off with our very first work day in space,”
he said.
The U.S. Space Command said it was tracking
the field of orbiting debris. NASA had made no
comment by late afternoon, and there was no
word from Russia about the missile strike.
A similar weapons test by China in 2007 also
resulted in countless debris. One of those