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International Space Station (archive image)
Photo: HANDOUT / Reuters
A few hours before the planned start, the US space agency Nasa canceled an external mission at the International Space Station (ISS).
The US astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron were supposed to repair a defective antenna that was more than 20 years old.
The spare parts for this had previously been supplied from Earth and are stored on the outside of the station.
There are other comparable antenna systems at the station that work.
Nevertheless, the ISS planners decided to replace them.
This has now been postponed at short notice because there was apparently an increased risk for the two space travelers to be hit by a piece of space junk.
Because the rubble is traveling at a speed of many thousands of kilometers per hour, a hit would be extremely dangerous.
Support from Esa astronauts Maurer planned
It was initially not clear whether the part of the rubble mentioned by NASA was due to a test of a Russian anti-satellite weapon in mid-November.
The unannounced shooting down of a disused spy satellite resulted in countless debris, many of which also cross the orbit of the ISS.
There was then sharp criticism of Russia, especially from the USA.
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics examined the orbital data of 105 known debris from the launch on Tuesday and found no approach to the ISS during the planned field trip.
However, NASA assumes 1700 larger fragments alone.
Over time, this number should even increase due to collisions between the fragments.
The German Esa astronaut Matthias Maurer was supposed to support the repair from inside the space station with the help of a robotic arm.
He was supposed to be assisted by the American Raja Chari.
An outdoor assignment is also planned for Maurer in the coming months, which he should complete in a Russian spacesuit.
This has to do with the fact that work is taking place on a Russian module.
Usually the Esa astronauts on the ISS wear the suits of the Americans, there is no European model of their own.
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