Space debris from satellites prompts astronauts on the International Space Station to seek shelter in docked capsules.

When the International Space Station came dangerously close to a field of orbital debris, astronauts on board had to flee to their transport vessel for safety. The US Space Command began investigating the space trash in the early hours of the morning. The station passed through the debris field every 90 minutes, requiring the crew to close and reopen numerous chambers several times for most of the day.

NASA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency often moves the International Space Station with their allies to prevent approaching space debris. When the outpost was endangered by debris of a Chinese satellite damaged in a 2007 missile test, they did so last week.