Astronauts forced to take shelter on space station after Russian satellite blows up [updated]

[Grim Reaper 6]

Astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter after a Russian satellite broke up and flung debris through space. Crews were told to get into their respective aircraft in case of any collision with the more than 100 pieces of debris that came after the satellite broke up, Nasa said.

There were no immediate details on what caused the break-up of the RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which was decommissioned in 2022.

The event occurred in an orbit near the International Space Station, prompting U.S. astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, Nasa’s Space Station office said.

Astronauts forced to take shelter on space station after Russian satellite blows up (msn.com)

[pellinore]

I didn't realise there were 12 people on the ISS. There have been reports the 2 Americans are stranded: Boeing Starliner has left its astronauts stranded on the International Space Station. Now what? (msn.com)

Presumably it isn't an emergency as the other astronauts have functional spacecraft. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

1 minute ago, pellinore said:

I didn't realise there were 12 people on the ISS. There have been reports the 2 Americans are stranded: Boeing Starliner has left its astronauts stranded on the International Space Station. Now what? (msn.com)

Presumably it isn't an emergency as the other astronauts have functional spacecraft. 

The thing that apparently made it an emergency was the fact that the satellite close to the station and also on a similar orbital plain!

[Waspie_Dwarf]

13 minutes ago, pellinore said:

I didn't realise there were 12 people on the ISS

There aren't. There are 9 on board, 3 Russians, 6 Americans.

 

15 minutes ago, pellinore said:

There have been reports the 2 Americans are stranded

Don't believe everything you read. No one is stranded. The Starliner had a few issues with thrusters and helium leaks. Nothing serious. These problems are in the service module, which doesn't return to Earth. Because engineers can't examine the problematic systems after landing the flight has been prolonged to better understand the issues ready for future, long duration missions

12 minutes ago, pellinore said:

Presumably it isn't an emergency as the other astronauts have functional spacecraft. 

All the astronauts and cosmonauts on board have functional spacecraft. The Starliner crew retreated to their spacecraft. Had there been a problem they would have been able return home immediately.

The Russian Soyuz and the American Crew Dragon and Starliner spacecraft serve two main functions. The first is to ferry crew members to and from the ISS. The second is to serve as a lifeboat for the crew whilst they are aboard.

What happened when the Russian satellite broke apart is standard procedure when there is a predicted near-miss with the station. All crew members suit-up and wait in their respective spacecraft until the potential hazard is over. If a collision were to occur then they would be able to escape the station rapidly. It has happened multiple times during the time in which the ISS has been crewed.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

32 minutes ago, pellinore said:

I didn't realise there were 12 people on the ISS

 

6 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

There aren't. There are 9 on board, 3 Russians, 6 Americans.

There are actually12 people in orbit. In addition to the crew of the ISS there are three Chinese astronauts on the Tiangong Chinese space station.

[Waspie_Dwarf]