Space debris: This incident is said to have happened on March 1, when the astronauts of the Shenzhou 17 mission were doing a spacewalk.
There is a saying that you reap what you sow! China has been accused of not disposing of its space debris properly. Because of this, satellite-like garbage is increasing in space. Now news has come that one such alleged waste has put China in trouble. According to China’s government media, the power supply was partially affected due to the attack of space debris on its Tiangong space station. This incident is being reported on March 1, when the astronauts of the Shenzhou 17 mission were doing a spacewalk.
The Tiangong Space Station is operated by China’s space agency CMSA. According to media reports, Chinese astronauts were on a spacewalk when space debris hit the space station’s outpost. Due to this, there was a problem related to power supply.
CMSA said in a press conference that despite this disturbance during the spacewalk, the spacewalk was successful. The agency says that in the future it will be ready to protect its space station from space debris. The deputy director of the Chinese Space Agency said that the space station’s core module ‘Tianhe’ had to suffer a power shortage due to the impact of space debris on the power cables of the solar wing.
However, China has not confirmed whether the debris was a micro-meteoroid or debris from a satellite. But the greater possibility is that it could be debris from a satellite. Such waste is being seen as the biggest challenge for space companies in the coming times. China itself leaves all its missions after their life is over, whereas such satellites should be disposed of properly. The number of space mission launches has increased in recent years, which will increase the scope of space debris in the future. The biggest challenge will come in low-Earth orbit, i.e., the lower orbit of the Earth. Most satellites are present in low-Earth orbit only.