Nasa's Jim Bridenstine said about 60 pieces have been tracked so far and out of which 24 are going above the apogee of the ISS.
The
NASA
on Tuesday termed as a "terrible thing" India's shooting
down of one of its satellites that has created about 400 pieces of
orbital debris, endangering the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA
Administrator Jim Bridenstine said about 60 pieces have been tracked
so far and out of which 24 are going above the apogee of the ISS.
"That
is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris
and an apogee that goes above the international space station. That
kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human
spaceflight that we need to see have happen," he said at a NASA
townhall here.
"The
ASAT
test by India last week has resulted in about 400 pieces of orbital
debris," he added.
Bridenstine
said not all of the pieces were big enough to track and the NASA is
right now tracking objects which are 10 centimeters or bigger.
"Some
60 pieces of orbital debris have been tracked so far, 24 out of which
poses risk to the International Space Station," he said.
Bridenstine
was addressing employees of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a
televised address, announced that India shot down a satellite in
space with a missile, catapulting the country into an elite club of
space powers alongside the US, Russia and China
Bridenstine
is the first top official from the Trump administration to come out
in public against the India's ASAT test.
"We
are charged with commercialising of low earth orbit. We are charged
with enabling more activities in space than we've ever seen before
for the purpose of benefiting the human condition, whether it's
pharmaceuticals or printing human organs in 3D to save lives here on
earth or manufacturing capabilities in space that you're not able to
do in a gravity well," he said.
"All
of those are placed at risk when these kinds of events happen,"
Bridenstine said as he feared India's ASAT test could risk
proliferation of such activities by other countries.
"When
one country does it, other countries feel like they have to do it as
well," he said.
"It's
unacceptable. The NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact
to us is," the NASA Administrator said.
