The seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station were suddenly woken at 7:01 GMT Monday morning.
The debris cloud was hurling towards them at speeds up to 17.500 mph.
The moment that Nasa Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei was awakened by audio between Houston Mission Control, Texas and Station 250 Miles Above Earth was captured on Audio.
He was ordered to ensure the crew dressed in their space suits and entered their escape capsules after what Mission Control called a ‘satellite break-up’.
‘We need to have you guys start reviewing the safe-haven procedure,’ said Houston before talking the astronaut through the steps he needed to take.
As the orbiting debris cloud grew closer, it was becoming more dangerous. A small object, about the size of a golfball, could strike the station and cause damage to the hull. It would also depressurise the spaceship, killing all those inside.
These objects will be available in large numbers, with at most 1,500 expected to arrive soon.
Five astronauts, four Americans from Nasa and a German from European Space Agency, and two Russian Cosmonauts, were hurriedly into their spacecrafts, Crew Dragon Endurance (and Soyuz MS-19).
And what had caused the ‘satellite break-up’ and debris cloud?
Russia launched a missile to demolish a Soviet satellite that orbited, Kosmos-1408; it was an extremely condemned move.
Moscow’s missile was a Nudol ‘satellite killer’ (pictured) that had been launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, some 124 miles south of Archangel in north-west Russia
This crisis was far beyond Earth and raised fears of similar scenes to the ones in Gravity, starring George Clooney.
The film shows that after Russia destroys a spy satellite it has been tracking, a space debris cloud hurls towards the Space Shuttle Explorer, and Hubble Space Telescope, with devastating results.
For defence analysts, this week’s move showed Russia’s determination to flex its muscles and open a new front in space.
Moscow’s missile was a Nudol ‘satellite killer’ that had been launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, some 124 miles south of Archangel in north-west Russia.
This anti-ballistic projectile was designed to defend Moscow against a nuclear attack. It had been tried at least ten time, but never hit any space targets.
It is believed that the debris field extended between 270 and 320 miles high, which means there were only 20 miles between it orbiting the station.
Unfortunately, no fragments of debris have yet reached the station. Crew members were able to safely return the vessel after just two hours. Some parts, however, were sealed off for safety.
Moscow had warned no one of its missile test (experts believe even Russia’s own space agency, which has two cosmonauts on board, was cynically kept in the dark) and America, Britain and Nato reacted with anger, condemning Russia’s rash behaviour
U.S. State Department said it identified 1,500 pieces of the satellite large enough to detect on radar. There were many smaller fragments that could seriously damage low Earth orbit satellites if they struck them.
The message of the missile attack was clearly aimed at the West — that Russia could do the same with U.S. and European satellites in the event of war.
Moscow had warned no one of its missile test (experts believe even Russia’s own space agency, which has two cosmonauts on board, was cynically kept in the dark) and America, Britain and Nato reacted with anger, condemning Russia’s rash behaviour.
Washington denounced ‘a reckless and dangerous act’ and warned it was ‘watching closely’ Russian moves to threaten not just America’s security but that of other ‘spacefaring nations’.
A UK government spokesman urged Moscow to join discussions at the United Nations on ‘responsible behaviour’.
The Kremlin offered no apologies, boasting that the missile had hit its target with ‘razor-sharp precision’. The Kremlin claimed America was aware that space-based threats were not present from the debris.
Many were surprised by this. The U.S. government’s Space Surveillance Network tracks more 27,000 pieces of orbital debris or ‘space junk’, though it warns that more than 100 million other items, smaller than 1cm, are also orbiting Earth at huge speeds.
Many satellites are inoperable due to collisions with debris. This includes a French microsatellite that was destroyed in 1996, and a Russian communication satellite.
One hole was discovered in a robot arm at the International Space Station (ISS). This happened May 2015. A piece of debris from space is suspected to be the culprit.
Though many defunct satellites orbit Earth, engineers often arrange for them to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, where they are harmlessly burnt up.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, accused America of hypocrisy this week. He claimed that the Pentagon started the space arms race, and had tested its weapons.
The moment that Nasa flight engineer Mark Vande Hei was awakened by audio between Houston Mission Control, Texas (250 miles above Earth) was captured on audio. He was ordered to ensure the crew dressed in their space suits and entered their escape capsules after what Mission Control called a ‘satellite break-up’
For defence analysts, this week’s move showed Russia’s determination to flex its muscles and open a new front in space. Military forces are unable to fight, let alone win, without the hardware that’s floating in low Earth orbit
The second fact is also true. While Washington has, China, and India have tested satellite-destroying weapons, both American and Indian operations were intended to minimize debris and ensure that most of the fragments fell to Earth.
Russia is the only country that has ever caused such space devastation as China. The consequences of Beijing’s 2007 missile test which destroyed another satellite are still being felt.
The ISS was forced to change course last week to avoid colliding with a piece of the long-destroyed Chinese satellite.
The latest move has baffled some observers.
Russians make extensive uses of the space station, and also heavily rely on military satellites.
Defense analysts argue that this thinking is not representative of the larger picture.
Despite U.S. warnings of a Russian military build-up on the Ukraine border and fears over China’s aggression in the South China Sea, they are convinced the next conflict will erupt not on the ground or at sea, but in space.
Some experts insist such a war is inevitable given the extent to which today’s armed forces rely on space and satellites.
Military forces are unable to fight, let alone win, without the hardware that’s floating in low Earth orbit.
It is even claimed that the next war, perhaps between China and the U.S., could be decided in the first few minutes depending on which side can disable its enemy’s communication and navigation tools such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) – all of it reliant on satellites.
This reliance includes handheld satnav systems to guide individual soldiers in remote areas, sophisticated ‘keyhole’ spy satellites able to spot a gun on a park bench (and which can fly over Russia and China without invading their airspace), munitions guided by space-based lasers, and satellite warning systems that provide an early alert of missile launches.
This is a growing dependency. Future fighter jets will be able to use space-based communication.
Defending satellites and knocking out the enemy’s will become crucial.
Although the West’s military forces have for years had the upper hand in space, that reassuring superiority is over.
Despite U.S. warnings of a Russian military build-up on the Ukraine border and fears over China’s aggression in the South China Sea, they are convinced the next conflict will erupt not on the ground or at sea, but in space
Some experts insist such a war is inevitable given the extent to which today’s armed forces rely on space and satellites
Avril Haines, Joe Biden’s Director of National Intelligence, said only last week: ‘Both China and Russia are increasingly building space into their military capabilities.’
She added: ‘They [also] have directed-energy weapons that allow them to essentially blind sensors on various satellites.’
That’s just one way of knocking out a satellite in space that doesn’t involve smashing it to dangerous smithereens.
The U.S. – which with other countries agreed back in 1967 to ban the use of weapons of mass destruction in orbit – has itself been researching some of these options, which include using high-power microwaves, radio-frequency jammers, lasers, chemical sprayers and robotic arms, each delivered by an ‘attack satellite’ that creeps up on its targets either to disable them or throw them out of their intended orbit.
China and Iran have reportedly both used lasers to dazzle U.S. spy satellites – and it’s highly likely that the West does the same.
Moscow is also believed to be working on an anti-satellite missile, which could be launched by an airplane and an aerial laser weapon that could strike satellites.
Last year, the U.S. and UK accused Russia of testing an attack satellite that worked like a Russian ‘nesting doll’ or matryoshka, releasing a smaller sub-satellite that in turn released an anti-satellite weapon as it stalked a U.S. spy satellite.
‘We’re looking forward to a calmer day tomorrow,’ said Nasa astronaut Mark Vande Hei from the ISS as he signed off on Monday.
In the depths of space, the world’s latest battleground, that sounds like wishful thinking.