The International Space Station backflipped out of control
In one of the most serious incidents in the 21-year history of the ISS, the orbital outpost on July 29 unexpectedly rolled backwards by 540 degrees when thrusters from the newly arrived Nauka module suddenly roared to life. Russian flight controllers regained control after 47 minutes of terror, during which time the ISS performed 1.5 unscheduled backflips. Orbiting upside down, an additional 180-degree forward flip was required to bring the outpost back to its original position.
The incident was no joke, as the spinning, had it been worse, could’ve damaged to the station or, even worse, caused it to spin wildly out of control. NASA said the ISS Expedition 65 crew was never in any danger, while Russia blamed a software glitch on the anomaly. A similar incident then occurred in October, when a routine thruster test of a Soyuz capsule lasted for longer than expected, shifting the ISS by 60 degrees.
