The repair will have to wait.
NASA announced early Tuesday the postponement of a spacewalk of two of its astronauts outside the International Space Station (ISS) because of the risk posed by "debris".
These astronauts, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, were to complete a six-and-a-half-hour excursion later that day to replace a faulty radio communications antenna.
NASA received a debris notification for the space station.
Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the Nov. 30 spacewalk until more information is available.
https://t.co/HJCXFWBd3Y pic.twitter.com/swj5hqusSo
- International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 30, 2021
"NASA has been informed (of a risk) of debris for the space station," the US space agency tweeted.
"Due to the lack of possibilities to properly assess the risk this could pose to astronauts, the teams have decided to postpone the November 30 spacewalk until more information is available," he said. she added.
It was to be Kayla Barron's first spacewalk and Thomas Marshburn's fifth.
The two astronauts arrived on the ISS on November 11 aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endurance capsule with NASA's Crew-3 mission for a six-month stay.
Dangerous debris in mid-November
In mid-November, Russia destroyed one of its own satellites in a missile test, generating a cloud of debris.
This had forced the seven members of the ISS crew to take temporary refuge in their return ships.
Read alsoThe ISS threatened by debris: "The astronauts are doing well but the stress is there"
The Russians have dismissed US accusations that their test endangered the space station.
US officials, for their part, said they had not been informed in advance of this anti-satellite missile test, the fourth only to hit a spacecraft from the ground, which generated more than 1,500 pieces of debris. spotting orbitals.
It has not yet been specified whether the postponement by NASA of the spacewalk on Tuesday was due to debris from the Russian space missile test.
