ＩＳＳに「宇宙ごみ接近通知」　ＮＡＳＡ、船外活動延期

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米航空宇宙局（ＮＡＳＡ）は１１月３０日未明、国際宇宙ステーション（ＩＳＳ）への「宇宙ごみ接近通知」を受けて、宇宙飛行士２人によるＩＳＳ船外活動を延期した。（写真はスペースシャトル「ディスカバリー」から撮影した国際宇宙ステーション＜ＩＳＳ＞。米航空宇宙局＜ＮＡＳＡ＞提供）
　トーマス・マーシュバーン、ケイラ・バロン両飛行士は同日、６時間半にわたり船外活動を行い、故障した無線通信アンテナを交換する予定だった。
　しかし、ＮＡＳＡはツイッターでＩＳＳへの「宇宙ごみ接近通知」を受けたと明かし、「宇宙飛行士に及ぼすリスクを適切に評価する機会がないため、１１月３０日の船外活動をさらなる情報が得られるまで延期することに決定した」と発表した。
　１１月にはロシアが人工衛星をミサイルで破壊する実験を行った。ＮＡＳＡはこの実験で生じた宇宙ごみの雲について、「ＩＳＳへの脅威を増加させた」としている。
　船外活動延期の原因となった宇宙ごみがロシアの実験で生じたものかは不明。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/12/01-12:33）

NASA early Tuesday postponed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station by two of its astronauts after receiving a debris notification for the orbital outpost.
Astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron had been due to head outside the space laboratory later Tuesday on a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to replace a faulty radio communications antenna.
NASA received a debris notification for the space station, the space agency tweeted.
Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the Nov. 30 spacewalk until more information is available.
Earlier in November, Russia destroyed one of its own satellites during a missile test, generating a cloud of debris that NASA said had increased the risk to the station.
The debris cloud forced the seven crew on the ISS to temporarily take shelter in their return ships. NASA said the biggest risk had been in the first 24 hours after the test.
It was not clear if NASA's postponement of Tuesday's spacewalk was due to debris from the Russian space missile test.
The Russians have rejected US accusations that their test had endangered the space station.
US officials said they were not informed in advance of the anti-satellite missile test -- only the fourth ever to hit a spacecraft from the ground -- which generated more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris.
The spacewalk had been due to be Barron's debut walk, and the fifth for Marshburn.
The pair arrived at the ISS on November 11 aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance with NASA's Crew-3 mission for a six-month stay.