NASA Viewed India’s Anti-Satellite Missile Test As An Unacceptable Threat

Harin - Apr 03, 2019

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is publicly against India's anti-satellite missile test as it poses an unacceptable threat to the ISS.

On March 27, India carried out a missile mission to test out its ability in destroying satellites by shooting down one of the country’s satellites which were in orbit around 186 miles from the Earth.

On the website of the Ministry of External Affairs, it wrote:

However, Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, is strongly against this mission. During Town Hall meeting on Monday, Bridenstine told the agency’s employees that at the moment, there are 24 pieces of debris floating 250 miles above the ISS (International Space Station), posing as an “unacceptable” threat to all astronauts on board.

Bridenstine then stated that NASA is tracking around 60 pieces of debris from the explosion of India’s satellite. Each of them is about six inches or even bigger. However, other pieces that are too small to track could jeopardize the ISS as well.

According to Bridenstine, the satellite test of India has raised the chance of the ISS coming into collision with the debris by 44% over a 10-day course.

He said: