Astronaut spots 'bullet hole' in International Space Station caused by rock travelling at 22,000mph (but luckily it only hit a solar panel)

  • Rock could have damaged hull of the space station
  • The 2mm object may have hit the station any time in the past 14 years
  • Particles that small can't be tracked by scientists and pose a threat to satellites and astronauts

By Victoria Woollaston

PUBLISHED: 09:12 EST, 3 May 2013 | UPDATED: 11:27 EST, 3 May 2013


A tiny rock orbiting the Earth has collided with the International Space Station, creating a hole in the station's solar arrays.

Astronaut and Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield spotted the puncture, which is said to be around 0.25 inches in diameter, and posted a photo of it on Twitter earlier this week.

Hadfield believes it was caused by a tiny space rock called a micrometeoroid that could have hit the array's outpost any time during its 14-year history.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield has spotted a small puncture in the International Space Station's solar arrays. It is believed to have been caused by a small rock, or micrometeoroids, around 1mm to 2mm in diameter

Astronaut Chris Hadfield has spotted a small puncture in the International Space Station's solar arrays. It is believed to have been caused by a small rock, or micrometeoroids, around 1mm to 2mm in diameter

Space junk and debris orbiting the Earth

Nasa has said there is 5,500 tonnes of floating debris orbiting the planet. The build-up of debris can obstruct satellite television and other communications signals

SOLVING THE SPACE JUNK ISSUE

A plan to clear space junk was announced in April by British space company Astrium UK. 

Astrium's plans would see a 'chase' satellite fitted with five or more harpoons which can fire at a moving target.

Using laser and radar guidance systems, a piece of space junk would be targeted, and then captured with a gas-propelled harpoon on a tether.

Once the space junk is secured, a smaller sub-satellite detaches from the chase satellite and pulls the junk downwards to burn up as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

Then the chase satellite would then search out another target.

Hadfield wrote: 'Bullet hole - a small stone from the universe went through our solar array. Glad it missed the hull.'

Nasa engineers are now working on getting the hole fixed.

 

More...

Nasa spokesman William Jeffs told Space.com: 'The "bullet" that created the hole in the solar array was probably due to a 1mm to 2mm-diameter MMOD [micrometeoroids and orbital debris] impact.'

He added that a 2mm-size particle is expected to hit somewhere every six months or so.

Scientists can track pieces of space debris larger than four inches wide using radar systems.

Space station operators and satellite controllers are then alerted to any potential collisions.

According to Nasa, 'collision with these particles can cause serious damage or catastrophic failure to spacecraft or satellites and is a life-threatening risk to astronauts.'

Yet, particles smaller than four inches can't be tracked as easily and will often collide without warning. 

Nasa experts claim that millions of micrometeorites and bits of debris orbit the Earth around operational satellites and the space station.

Scientist have invented a space sail to solve the problem with floating debris

Scientists from the University of Surrey have invented a space sail, attached to a 'suicidal' mini satellite. It can be launched into space, attach itself to floating debris and drag it back into the Earth's atmosphere, where both the debris and satellite are then burnt away

The sails of the CubeSail device, invented by the University of Surrey. Once deployed the sail slows debris down until it can no longer orbit and falls to Earth.

The sails of the CubeSail device, invented by the University of Surrey. Once deployed the sail slows debris down until it can no longer orbit and falls to Earth.

The debris is made up of shards of satellites, rockets and rocks and other junk that is either naturally occurring, or was released into the universe from previous collisions.

Nasa said that there is around 5,500 tonnes of floating debris currently orbiting the planet.

The build-up of debris - which is expected to grow at a rate of five per cent each year - is also believed to obstruct satellite television and other communications signals.

The particles travel at an average speed of 22,000 mph - this is five miles per second.

In comparison, the space station orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,500 mph.

In an attempt to solve the space junk problem, scientists in Surrey have invented a 'suicidal' satellite, attached to a giant sail, that can destroy dangerous space junk.

The CubeSail, developed by the University of Surrey, carries the satellite into orbit where it then attaches itself to floating debris.

Once a satellite has fixed onto its target, the large solar sails deploy and slows the speeding debris down enough so it falls out of orbit.

The debris then burns up in the Earth's atmosphere - along with the 6lb satellite.


Comments (18)

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

If I was a space man, I'd make the hole much bigger and use it to pleasure myself whilst out on a spacewalk!

Click to rate     Rating   6

Report abuse

caj92 - the temperatures involved in burning things up in the atmosphere are high enough to brutally vaporise the debris. Meteors lose most of their mass when they pass through the atmosphere, so a bit of weak material that we stuck up there will simply disappear.

Click to rate     Rating   (0)

Report abuse

So it's not a bullet hole!!

Click to rate     Rating   1

Report abuse

Interesting , lots of toxic products, metals , radioactive elements etc. burning up in the atmosphere and the international community are ok with this?

Click to rate     Rating   10

Report abuse

Make up your mind, is it a rock or a bullet. You can not have a rock making a bullet hole. - Doing it tuff , Brisbane, Australia, 04/5/2013 02 Sure you can. just use a correct sized stone in a muzzle loader . Bang , bullet hole caused by a stone or rock.

Click to rate     Rating   8

Report abuse

I've been following commander hadfield on Twitter for months now. He is an incredibly inspirational guy.

Click to rate     Rating   7

Report abuse

5,500 Tonnes of junk! The scrap yard in the sky. So that's why my cell phone goes dead in the middle of a conversation. Could that also be part of the reason for the so called global warming? he says tongue in cheek

Click to rate     Rating   9

Report abuse

nice pic, whats the story

Click to rate     Rating   1

Report abuse

NASA has a couple of websites (for which links cannot be posted here - but you can google them yourselves) with images of Shuttle and LDEF (1984-1990) damage caused by meteroids and the near-Earth environment. Interesting stuff.

Click to rate     Rating   3

Report abuse

So it was NOT a bullet hole. Good reporting as usual DM.

Click to rate     Rating   2

Report abuse

Share this comment

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.