Space junk crashes into the International Space Station, causes damage
An object punched a small hole in a robotic arm attached to the ISS.
By
Joseph Guzman | June 1, 2021
Story at a glance
The damage was first noticed during a routine inspection on May 12.
A hole about 5 millimeters in diameter was punched into a small section of the robotic arm.
Despite the impact, the performance of the arm remains unaffected.
The International Space Station (ISS) has suffered some damage after it was hit with a small piece of space junk, according to NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
A small section of a 60-foot robotic arm attached to the outside of the ISS was punctured by space debris and left with a hole about 5 millimeters in diameter.
“Experts from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA worked together to take detailed images of the area and assess the impact, which occurred on one of Canadarm2’s boom segments,” CSA officials said in a recent blog post.
“Despite the impact, results of the ongoing analysis indicate that the arm’s performance remains unaffected. The damage is limited to a small section of the arm boom and thermal blanket,” CSA said.
“Canadarm2 is continuing to conduct its planned operations,” the agency said.
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https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/smart-cities/556368-space-junk-crashed-into-the-international-space
