A Russian missile test that destroyed an out-of-date satellite on Monday sent more than 1,500 chunks of space debris hurtling toward the International Space Station, U.S. officials have revealed.
The seven astronauts aboard the ISS -- four Americans, one German and two Russians -- were forced to take shelter in docked capsules amid the sea of debris, says U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. "It was dangerous," Price says. "It was reckless. It was irresponsible."
Price says the 1,500 pieces of the blown up satellite were large enough to be detected by radar; it's unknown how many smaller fragments also reached the ISS in the aftermath of the blast. “We are going to continue to make very clear that we won’t tolerate this kind of activity," Price adds.
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