An American and a Russian satellite will pass dangerously close to each other, according to NASA

The US Department of Defense is monitoring NASA's TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) mission satellite passing dangerously close to the Russian Cosmos 2221 satellite, NASA announced in a blog post on Wednesday morning, Reuters reports.

An American satellite will pass dangerously close to a Russian one PHOTO Shutterstock

Although it is expected that the space vehicles will not touch, a collision could lead to the appearance of significant debris, the American space agency stated, adding that it continues to monitor the situation together with the Department of Defense, Agerpres reports.

The statement did not specify how close the two will come. The two satellites, which cannot maneuver, are expected to pass closest to each other around 01:30 EST (06:30 GMT) on February 28, at an altitude of about 600 kilometers, stated NASA. The TIMED mission studies the influence of the Sun and humans on the Earth's mesosphere, lower thermosphere and ionosphere.

NASA is set to train an Indian astronaut for a trip to the ISS

NASA will train an Indian astronaut for a trip to the International Space Station starting in 2024, US space agency Administrator Bill Nelson announced on November 30, 2023, amid closer ties in space research between India and the United States, reports Reuters. according to Agerpres.

“There is an opportunity to share science”said Bill Nelson at an event held in Bengaluru, where he is to visit the NISAR satellite.

NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a low Earth orbit observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). About the size of an SUV, the satellite is due to be launched from India in the first quarter of next year. The release is scheduled for January.

NISAR's mission is to map the entire planet once every 12 days, providing data for understanding changes in ecosystems, ice mass, plant biomass, sea level rise, groundwater and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.