WASHINGTON, April 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has called India’s anti-satellite missile test carried out last week as a “terrible thing” that posed new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station with its orbital debris.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was quoted by Press Trust of India as saying that the missile test had resulted in about 400 pieces of orbital debris.
Addressing a NASA townhall on Monday, Jim Bridenstine said:
“That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris at an apogee that goes above the International Space Station (ISS). That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight that we need to see have happen.
“It’s unacceptable. NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact to us is.”
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s successful demonstration of its anti-satellite or ASAT technology capabilities, shooting down one of its own satellites.
In a televised address to the nation last week, Modi said the Mission Shakti (power) was completed in three minutes. “MissionShakti was a highly complex one, conducted at extremely high speed with remarkable precision.
“Shooting down a low earth orbit satellite is a rare achievement for the country.”
Todate, the US, China and Russia are the only other countries that have demonstrated the capability.
While the low earth orbit was chosen to minimise debris, experts argue that
these missions can create hundreds to thousands of pieces of debris in space.
Meanwhile, according to American technology news network, The Verge, past ASAT tests carried out included one by the United States in 2008 called Operation Burnt Frost.
In February of that year, the military launched a missile at a failed satellite from the National Reconnaissance Office called USA 193 since its decay was orbiting rapidly. Part of the justification for the test was that the satellite contained toxic hydrazine fuel that could pose a threat if it landed near someone on the ground.
According to The Verge, the missile destroyed USA 193 when it was about 150 miles (240 kilometers) above the Earth, creating a cloud of debris that fell to Earth less than a year later. However, some of the debris from that test was blasted to a much higher orbit.
In 2007, China destroyed its own weather satellite during an ASAT test. Amateur satellite trackers estimate that the test created more than 3,000 objects, many of which have remained in orbit for years since the incident.
–NNN-AGENCIES
