NASA: Ousted space station crew seeks shelter in 'lifeboat'

The three astronauts onboard the International Space Station Thursday were forced to seek shelter in a "lifeboat" when space debris came hurtling dangerously close to the orbiting outpost.

Two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut took refuge in the Soyuz TMA-13 Capsule, which is what they would use if they needed to return to earth, according to Josh Byerly, a NASA spokesman. They were in the capsule from 12:34 to 12:45 a.m. EDT Thursday when they received an all-clear from Mission Control.

The piece of debris, which was spotted late last night by the U.S. Space Command, is a piece of an old rocket motor that was used to push a satellite higher into orbit, said Byerly. The debris came within a 2.8 mile "box" of space that NASA considers a danger zone around the space station. The piece of motor only measures a third of an inch but Byerly said even something the size of a grain of sand could do massive damage to the space station because of the high rate of speed that debris travels in space.

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The three astronauts onboard the International Space Station Thursday were forced to seek shelter in a "lifeboat" when space debris came hurtling dangerously close to the orbiting outpost.

Two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut took refuge in the Soyuz TMA-13 Capsule, which is what they would use if they needed to return to earth, according to Josh Byerly, a NASA spokesman. They were in the capsule from 12:34 to 12:45 a.m. EDT Thursday when they received an all-clear from Mission Control.

The piece of debris, which was spotted late last night by the U.S. Space Command, is a piece of an old rocket motor that was used to push a satellite higher into orbit, said Byerly. The debris came within a 2.8 mile "box" of space that NASA considers a danger zone around the space station. The piece of motor only measures a third of an inch but Byerly said even something the size of a grain of sand could do massive damage to the space station because of the high rate of speed that debris travels in space.

"We asked the crew to get into the Soyuz," he added. "If the station was hit, that's what they'd use to get home. It's safe because that's their lifeboat. If the station decompressed, they could shut the hatch on the Soyuz and come home. You don't want to hide out on a part of the station where there's something between you and what could take you home."

NASA noted that it discovered that the debris would be coming too close for comfort to the space station too late to maneuver the station away from its path.

Wednesday, NASA announced that a leak in space shuttle Discovery's gaseous hydrogen vent line forced mission managers to push the launch back until March 15.

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