International Space Station to change orbit to avoid possible collision with debris
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The Russian space program's Mission Control Center says it will move the International Space Station into a different orbit to avoid possible collision with a fragment of debris.
Mission Control Center spokeswoman Nadyezhda Zavyalova said the Russian Zvevda module will fire booster rockets to carry out the operation Thursday at 07:22 a.m. Moscow time (0322 GMT).
The space station performs evasive maneuvers when the likelihood of a collision exceeds one in 10,000.
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NASA estimates that more than 21,000 fragments of orbital debris larger than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) are stuck in earth's orbit, and experts worry that orbiting junk is becoming a growing problem for the space industry.
There are six astronauts — three Russians, two Americans and one from Japan — onboard the orbiting laboratory.