NASA cancelled a spacewalk on Tuesday due to the presence of dangerous space trash that may puncture an astronaut’s suit or harm the International Space Station.
Two American astronauts were scheduled to replace a faulty antenna outside the space station. However, Mission Control learned late Monday night that a piece of orbital debris was about to fall near. As there was no sufficient time to examine the risks, station managers postponed the spacewalk until Thursday.
It is the first time a spacewalk has been cancelled due to a threat posed by space trash.
Since Russia destroyed a satellite in a missile test two weeks ago, the space station and its seven-person crew have been increasingly vulnerable to space trash.
According to NASA authorities, the Russian-generated debris increased the danger of a spacewalk puncture by 7 percent for astronauts Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron. Marshburn and Barron were the first to arrive at the space station earlier this month.
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