The sudden appearance of a small hole in a robotic arm aboard the international space station (ISS) has brought renewed attention to the danger posed by space junk. The Canadian space agency (CSA), which operates the arm, described it as a “lucky strike” that did not affect operations or endanger the seven astronauts in orbit aboard the station. It is not known what kind of object struck the space station or when it happened. According to Nasa, “millimeter-sized orbital debris represents the highest mission-ending risk to most robotic spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit”. “It sounds easy, don’t put more space junk up there, but not everybody follows it,” Crassidis said, noting that the most recent global agreement on space debris mitigation came from the United Nations in 2010.

Source: The Guardian June 01, 2021 17:48 UTC