ISS crew endangered by space junk from ‘reckless’ Russian weapons test
A “reckless and irresponsible” Russian weapons test has created more than 1,500 pieces of debris now endangering the seven crew aboard the International Space Station, US officials have said.
Crew members were forced to take emergency measures on Monday after debris floated dangerously close by – and took cover in their docked capsules amid fears of a collision with the “space junk”.
The State Department later confirmed that the debris was from an old Russian satellite destroyed by the missile.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: “Needless to say, I’m outraged. This is unconscionable.”
He said it was “unbelievable” that the Russian government would do this test and threaten not only international astronauts, “but their own cosmonauts that are on board the station”, as well as the three people on China’s space station.
The SpaceX Dragon docking with the International Space Station, on Thursday, 11 November Pic: AP
Mr Nelson said the crew members now face four times greater risk than usual – just based on the debris big enough to track.
Hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces will go undetected and could cause “enormous damage” if it hits the right place, he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia and said satellites were also now under threat.
In a statement, he said the test clearly demonstrates that Russia, “despite its claims of opposing the weaponisation of outer space, is willing to imperil the exploration and use of outer space by all nations through its reckless and irresponsible behaviour”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned Russia over the weapons test
The ISS crew, four Americans, one German and two Russians, learned of the last-minute threat early on Monday before retreating into their capsules.
They were told to close the hatches between the space station compartments, including the European Lab, every 90 minutes until bedtime as a safety precaution, interrupting their scientific research.
Only the hatches to the central core of the station remained open by the end of the day as the crew slept, according to Mr Nelson.
When orbiting at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph), even a fleck of paint could cause significant damage, so something big could be catastrophic upon impact.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the US has repeatedly raised concerns with Russia about doing a satellite test.
“We are going to continue to make very clear that we won’t tolerate this kind of activity,” he said.
NASA Mission Control said the heightened threat could continue to interrupt science research and other work on the space station.
A computer-generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris Pic: NASA
In 2007, a similar weapons test by China also resulted in countless debris, with one of those pieces threatening to come dangerously close to the space station last week.
NASA subsequently had the station move away despite it being dismissed as a risk.
The US Space Command had previously been tracking around 20,000 pieces of space junk before Monday’s incident, including old and broken satellites from around the world.
It will take days, if not weeks and months to catalogue the latest wreckage and confirm their orbits, according to Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
He explained the fragments will begin to spread out over time due to atmospheric drag and other forces, and the space station is at especially high risk because the test occurred near its orbit.
However, all objects in low-Earth orbit – including China’s space station and even the Hubble Space Telescope – will be at “somewhat enhanced risk” over the next few years, he noted.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former “thug” and “pit bull”, has been accused of lying about a phone call he says he made to the former US president about payments to ex porn star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, a lawyer who worked for the Trump Organisation from 2006 to 2017, has been giving evidence in the case about hush money payments to Ms Daniels – in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, called into question an important detail – a phone call made by Cohen to Trump’s assistant, Keith Schiller, on 24 October 2016.
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Cohen, 57, has maintained that during that call he spoke to Trump (who was either given the phone by Mr Schiller or placed on loudspeaker – we don’t know which) and told him he had paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in hush money on his behalf.
But Mr Blanche called this into doubt – showing the jury a number of interactions suggesting Cohen was in contact with Mr Schiller about a different issue at the same time, namely that he was receiving harassing phone calls and texts from a 14-year-old child.
“That was a lie – you did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through,” Mr Blanche said.
Cohen said that, based on his records, he believes he spoke to Trump about the Stormy Daniels matter.
“We are not asking for your belief,” Mr Blanche said. “This jury does not want to hear what you think happened.”
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Donald Trump in court on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
That exchange was part of several hours of questioning which apparently sought to paint a picture of Cohen as someone who is eager to see his former boss behind bars.
Mr Blanche played jurors audio clips of Cohen saying the case “fills me with delight” and that imagining Trump and his family in prison made him feel “giddy with hope and laughter”.
“Does the outcome of this trial affect you personally?” Mr Blanche asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied. He is due to return to the witness stand on Monday.
Michael Cohen (right) was Donald Trump’s fixer. Pic: AP
Cohen worked as the former president’s fixer. He once described himself as Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer”.
He once said he would take a bullet for his boss and admitted at the end of questioning on Tuesday that he “violated my moral compass” while working for Trump.
Hush money payouts are not illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide it – a claim he denies.
Cristiano Ronaldo has topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes for the fourth time in his career.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm took second place following his switch to Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Ronaldo became the world’s highest-paid athlete after his move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr and Forbes said the 39-year-old’s estimated total earnings were around $260m (£205m) – an all-time high for a football player.
Jon Rahm came in second. Pic: Jeff Faughender/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters
His on-field earnings amounted to $200m (£158m) while off-field he earned $60m (£47m) thanks to sponsorship deals where brands make use of his 629 million Instagram followers.
Rahm earned $218m (£172m) and joins Ronaldo as the only two athletes to earn over $200m.
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi. Pic: David Kirouac/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters
Third on the list is record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, who switched to Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, which helped the Argentine World Cup winner earn $135m (£107m).
The 36-year-old earned $65m (£51m) in on-field earnings but $70m (£55m) off it from deals with major sponsors such as Adidas and Apple.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James came in fourth at $128m (£101m), while fellow NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks made fifth with $111m (£88m).
France football captain Kylian Mbappe dropped down to sixth with $110m (£87m).
Neymar, who also moved to the Saudi Pro League to join Al-Hilal, is seventh with $108m (£85m), despite sitting out the majority of the season with a torn ACL.
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French striker Karim Benzema, who also moved to Saudi Arabia, is eighth on the list with $106m (£84m), followed by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry with $102m (£80m).
Lamar Jackson is the only NFL player on the list, in 10th place with $101m (£80m), thanks to the signing bonus negotiated into his new Baltimore Ravens contract last year.
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