The United States has condemned Russia’s anti-satellite missile attack

The direct effect of the Moscow force was to threaten the safety of the astronauts aboard the ISS.

The United States on Monday accused Russia of launching a “dangerous and irresponsible” anti-satellite missile that directly threatens the safety of astronauts on the International Space Station.

“Earlier today, Russia recklessly conducted a devastating direct-climb anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Nate Price.

This incident again raises fears that it could become a battleground between the major powers. According to Netflix, the move “created more than 1,500 detectable orbital debris, and hundreds of thousands of small orbital debris now threaten the interests of all nations.”

Those on board the ISS were forced to flee

On Monday morning, seven people currently on the ISS – four US astronauts, one German and two Russian astronauts – took refuge in their ships parked at the station to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation. According to special media Now space travel, They all returned to the ISS on Monday afternoon, but as a precaution many chicks were shut down between different blocks.

“This test will significantly increase the risk to astronauts and astronauts on the International Space Station,” Netflix said.

Earlier, the Russian space agency Roskosmos announced that the astronauts on the ISS were safe, without mentioning the missile test.

“The orbit of the object that forced the crew today to travel to the spacecraft using standard procedures deviated from the orbit of the ISS,” Roscosmos tweeted. “Friends, everything is fine with us. We continue to work according to our plan,” Russian astronaut Anton Skoplerov said on Twitter.

Scenes that cause dangerous debris in space

When contacted, NASA did not immediately respond to requests from our AFP colleagues. The Pentagon said it was “actively working to classify the pit field”. This includes specifically identifying the path of each object.

“We are closely monitoring the mechanisms by which Russia appears to want to grow,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby added, adding that Moscow had not warned Washington in advance.

Only four countries (US, China, India and Russia) have already carried out anti-satellite fires. But they are highly criticized. They can then attack a number of satellites in orbit, in which countries rely on a greater number of functions, for example communication or localization.

Destroying other countries’ satellites could prove to be a strategic military asset.

In March 2019, astronomer Jonathan McDowell recalled that “junk events caused by anti-satellite experiments do not happen often, and finally an Indian test”.

“This is a purely military test.”

According to him, by calculating the orbits of ISS and nearby objects, the satellite targeted by Russia may be Cosmos 1408, which has not been operational since the 1980s.

“It is absolutely not necessary to destroy it,” the expert ruled. “This is a purely military test.” “We already have too much rubbish to deliberately create too much, which is unforgivable,” he added.

According to him, some of the debris from this experiment will decompose when it enters the atmosphere “in the coming months”, while others will remain in orbit for up to ten years.

Many professionals face these risks and call for greater regulation in the field.

“We are very clear and want to see space standards used responsibly by all space forces,” a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.