Space Debris Forces Astronauts To Take Shelter

Astronauts Head To Escape Capsules As Precaution; Station Not Hit

By the CNN Wire Staff

POSTED: 3:52 am MDT March 24, 2012

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UPDATED: 5:38 am MDT March 24, 2012

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(CNN) -- A piece of a debris from a Russian Cosmos satellite passed close enough to the International Space Station on Saturday that its crew was ordered into escape capsules as a precaution, NASA said.
The six crew members were told to take shelter late Friday in their Soyuz capsules after it was determined there was a small possibility the debris could hit the station, the U.S. space agency said in a statement.
NASA said it began tracking the debris early Friday morning but only decided to take the precautionary steps after an analysis showed a slight possibility of hitting the space station.
The debris was predicted to pass about 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) from the space station, NASA said.

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