NASA posted about the event claiming they needed time to “properly assess the risk” posed by the debris. So the space agency decided to postpone the spacewalk until further notice.
From the ISS Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, assured mission control, “It’s just real life, this is how things work out sometimes, and I’m really glad you fellows are looking out for our safety.”
It would have been the fifth time Marshburn took a spacewalk. And the first time for Barron.
The source of the debris is not confirmed. But it may be the lingering effects of the Russian ASAT test. It is noted that thousands of dangerous fragments in a Russian debris cloud are still floating around.
To add to the problem it was widely reported by international sources that on Friday the ISS had to swerve to avoid 1990s debris from an old US Pegasus rocket.
NASA did not reveal the source of the space junk of any of the incidents.
And the agency insists that the delays will not have any big impact on the station. “The space station schedule and operations are able to easily accommodate the delay of the spacewalk,” NASA posted.
