NASA: International Space Station is 'dodging junk from old satellite'
Even in space, you can't escape litter.
NASA said Monday that the International Space Station (ISS) had to dodge "a piece of treacherous junk," according to The Associated Press. The debris could have been "dangerously close" to the ISS if it hadn't moved out of the way.
The debris is from the Russian Kosmos satellite, which was launched in 1993 and crashed into an Iridium spacecraft in 2009.
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The wreckage-dodging move comes as NASA prepares to launch supplies to the ISS from Virginia on Monday night, but Mission Control clarified that the move would not affect the supply launch.
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.