Astronauts aboard the International Space Station had to carry out an “avoidance manoeuvre” to prevent it from being hit by space junk, NASA has said.
Its trajectory was changed to move it further away from the “unknown piece of space debris”, the US space agency wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.
The three crew members – two Russians and an American – relocated to their Soyuz spacecraft attached to the ISS during the operation, so they could evacuate if necessary.
Experts expected the space junk to pass within “several kilometres” of the ISS, but decided to move it “out of an abundance of caution”.
Russian and US flight controllers worked together to adjust the station’s orbit in an operation which took minutes.
The crew were able to continue with their regular activities after the manoeuvre was complete.
NASA said the crew were not in danger at any time.
“Maneuver Burn complete. The astronauts are coming out of safe haven,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter.
Southern lights (and UFOs at the end?)
It is the third time this year the International Space Station (ISS) has had to manoeuvre to avoid space debris, he said.
He tweeted: “In the last 2 weeks, there have been 3 high concern potential conjunctions. Debris is getting worse!”
Astronomer Jonathon McDowell, at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, tweeted the unknown object was a part of a 2018 Japanese rocket which broke into 77 pieces last year.
The ISS is orbiting around 260 miles (420km) above the Earth, travelling at a speed of about 17,130mph (27,568km/h).
At this velocity, even a small object has the ability to cause serious damage to the space station.
NASA has said these kinds of manoeuvres occur on a regular basis, with 25 having occurred between 1999 and 2018.