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[i]Pending additional analysis, flight controllers told the six-member crew of the International Space Station to plan on taking refuge in the lab's two three-seat Soyuz lifeboats late Friday for the expected close approach of a piece of space debris around 10:48 p.m. EST. The debris, of unknown origin or size, could pass within about six-tenths of a mile of the lab complex toward the end of the crew's normal sleep period. Because all objects in low-Earth orbit, including the space station, are moving at roughly five miles per second, close encounters, or "conjunctions," are carefully monitored and subjected to extensive analysis. During the evening planning conference Friday afternoon, the astronauts were told to plan on getting up a few minutes early so they can make their way to the Soyuz lifeboats by around 10:30 p.m. "The ballistics are saying they are looking at conjunction with space debris," Russian mission control radioed. "As you know, this is something we are prepared for. In the past, we have performed avoidance maneuvers, but this time maneuvering away from the path of the debris is not an option. "Because we cannot perform avoidance maneuver, you will have to ingress Soyuz vehicles. Both Soyuz crews should be in their vehicles. This is what we have. We are going to work on the ballistics data to get greater precision, but right now we are in the red box. The probability of collision is non zero." ...under the current plan, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk and European Space Agency commander Frank De Winne would make their way to the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft docked to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module between 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. EST. Cosmonaut Maxim Suraev and NASA astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott would seek safe haven in the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda command module.[/i]
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