The head of NASA had called India’s destruction of one of its satellites a “terrible thing” that had created 400 pieces of debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
“Not all of the pieces were big enough to track, What we are tracking right now, objects big enough to track – we’re talking about 10 centimeters or bigger – about 60 pieces have been tracked,” Bridenstine explained.
Now Pentagon has said that it stood by its assessment that debris from Indian anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test would eventually burn up in the atmosphere, even after NASA’s administrator warned of the danger the debris posed.
Asked on Thursday whether the Pentagon stood by Mr. Shanahan’s earlier assessment, spokesman Charlie Summers said: “Yes.”
In 2007, China destroyed a satellite in a polar orbit, creating the largest orbital debris cloud in history, with more than 3,000 objects, according to the Secure World Foundation.
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