Shuttle Swerves to Miss Chunk of Space Debris

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Atlantis’ astronauts steered out of the way of a chunk of Soviet rocket Thursday, becoming the second shuttle crew in three months forced to change course because of space junk.

Commander Frederick Gregory maneuvered out of the way of the rocket debris about 10 1/2 hours before the two objects were to have passed in space.

NASA rules stipulate that the shuttle fly no closer than 1.6 miles above or beside another orbiting object, or four miles behind another object. Atlantis would have been traveling three miles behind the Cosmos booster if the shuttle had not detoured.

Atlantis’ space sleuths earlier sniffed out military targets in Nicaragua, Australia and Florida. Officials want to see how well astronauts can make out tanks, ships, aircraft and other military targets.