Russia’s Progress 83 Module Helps ISS Maneuver Avoid Collision with Argentine Satellite
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The International Space Station (ISS) maneuvers to avoid a collision with an Argentine Earth observation satellite in low earth orbit (LEO). Photo/NASA/Reuters
FLORIDA – The International Space Station (ISS) maneuvered to avoid a collision with the Argentine Earth observation satellite in low earth orbit (LEO). To lift the ISS out of the orbit of the Argentine satellite, the Progress 83 module thrusters were fired for 6 minutes.
Quoted from the Space page, Thursday (9/3/2023), at around 12:42 GMT, the Progress 83 module docked at the International Space Station (ISS) was fired for more than six minutes. The thrust of the Progress 83 module succeeded in raising the ISS above LEO orbit to prevent a potential collision.
According to Sandra Jones, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the satellite that has the potential to collide with the ISS is the Argentinian Earth Observation Satellite launched in 2020. In a tweet, Dr. Jonathan McDowell, astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, says the satellite is known as Nusat-17, which records the decay of the constellation’s orbit.
The Nusat-17 satellite is one of ten commercial observation satellites launched in 2020 and is operated by geospatial data company Satellogic. The Nusat constellation is one of several satellites whose orbit is slowly encroaching on the ISS orbit.
“The maneuvers were carried out after NASA received initial warning of a potential collision about 30 hours earlier than the satellite’s projected closest position,” Jones told Space.com.
The evasion maneuvers carried out have been calculated and the crew on the ISS together with NASA and Roscosmos ground teams are preparing to fire the thrusters as scheduled. This maneuver was carried out amidst the ISS crew’s busy schedule, following the arrival of Crew Dragon Endeavor from SpaceX and members of Crew-6.
They are also preparing for the return of Crew-5 members to Earth which is scheduled for next week. The ISS crew also began preparing for the arrival of SpaceX’s Dragon CRS-27 cargo, which is currently scheduled for launch March 14.
NASA stated that this evasion maneuver would not affect Crew-5’s departure back to Earth. “This burn does not interfere with any future space station traffic phasing,” NASA said in a statement.
(wib)
