BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A tiny piece of a defunct Russian satellite zipped by the International Space Station Tuesday, but was far enough away that outpost's two-man crew did not have to strap into their lifeboat to wait out the close shave, according to media reports Wednesday.

    The debris -- a small piece of a Cosmos satellite less than four inches (10 cm) wide -- zoomed by the station at 1:19 p.m. EST (1819 GMT) and came less than a mile (1 km) of the outpost at its closest point.

    "Updates showed that it would not come close enough to the space station to require any change in the processes onboard or require precautionary measures," said NASA spokesperson Kylie Clem.    

    NASA detected the object too late to move the space station clear of the incoming space trash by firing its thrusters.

    The space station is currently staffed by two astronauts, American commander Jeff Williams and Russian flight engineer Maxim Suraev.    

    The rest of the current ISS crew, known as Expedition 21, returned to Earth early Tuesday. The crew landed their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 2:15 a.m. EST. NASA said all three returning crew members were in good condition.

     (Agencies)