The Russian space program's Mission Control Centre says it will move the International Space Station into a different orbit to avoid possible collision with a fragment of debris. (Nasa, AP)
Moscow - The Russian space program's Mission Control Centre says it will move the International Space Station into a different orbit to avoid possible collision with a fragment of debris.
Mission Control Centre spokesperson Nadyezhda Zavyalova said the Russian Zvevda module will fire booster rockets to carry out the operation on Thursday at 07:22 Moscow time (03:22 GMT).
The space station performs evasive manoeuvres when the likelihood of a collision exceeds one in 10 000.
Nasa estimates that more than 21 000 fragments of orbital debris larger than 10cm are stuck in earth's orbit, and experts worry that orbiting junk is becoming a growing problem for the space industry.
There are six astronauts - three Russians, two Americans and one from Japan - onboard the orbiting laboratory.
- AP/News24
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