The 168kg US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's Miniature Sensor Technology Integration satellite, the MISTI 2, came within 1,000m of colliding with the Russian Mir 1 space station on 15 September.
It was the closest known unplanned encounter between a manned spacecraft and another, unrelated, satellite in orbit. US Space Command had issued a routine warning to Russia about the fly-past and as a precaution, the resident crew entered the Soyuz TM.
The US Space Shuttle has manoeuvred to a safe distance from large, tracked, orbiting objects several times and the Mir crew has previously been warned of other potential encounters.
The near-miss, at a closing speed of about 17,000km/h, was over the northern Pacific.
Source: Flight International
