Moscow - A piece of space debris left by the United States could pass within 240 metres of the International Space Station, but does not pose a serious threat, Russia's space flight control centre said on Tuesday.
"The object, which could pass 240 metres above the station, is a piece of abandoned American cargo launched in 1963 and weighing 79kg," said a spokesperson for the centre, Vsevolod Latychev.
"But following our calculations, the chance of a collision is practically zero... There is therefore no need to change the flight path of the ISS," he told Latychev.
Officials at the centre had earlier indicated that the debris might pose a threat to the ISS and that its inhabitants, Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and US astronaut Jeffrey Williams, might have to move into an escape vessel as a precaution.