The International Space Station has maneuvered Jan. 28 to avoid the remaining orbital debris from China's 2007 anti-satellite test, Fengyun 1C, which peppered low-Earth orbit with an estimated 3,000 pieces of shrapnel when it was intentionally destroyed by China five years ago.

According to NASA, the maneuver was designed to place the station at the correct altitude and trajectory for future visiting vehicle activities and to avoid a repetitive coincidence of possible conjunctions with a piece of Chinese Fengyun 1C satellite debris.

Since the space station orbits Earth at about 17,500 mph (28,164 kilometers per hour), even a small piece of orbital debris can cause serious damage if it hits, the NASA said.

A dodging maneuver is usually ordered by NASA's Mission Control Center when debris is expected to fly inside a safety perimeter, that extends about 15 miles around the space station, as well as a half-mile above and below the orbiting lab. These maneuvers to avoid space junk conjunctions are not uncommon for the space station and other satellites orbiting Earth.

Earlier this month, the space station fired its thrusters to avoid debris from a 2009 satellite crash between an U.S. and Russian spacecraft.

Space junk poses an ongoing threat to astronauts on the space station, as well as other satellites in orbit. To date, there are about 6,000 tons of space junk orbiting Earth ranging from tiny bolts and paint chips to huge spent rocket stages and dead satellites.

More than 500,000 pieces of space junk are tracked every day by NASA and the U.S. military's Space Surveillance Network in order to avoid collisions in orbit.

Last year, a NASA-sponsored report stated that the amount of space junk orbiting Earth is alarmingly high and may have reached a point where it could jeopardize all future space exploration. Prepared by the US National Research Council, the report said that computer models show the possible danger of collisions between pieces of space debris, which could create even more space trash.

Donald Kessler, a retired NASA scientist who led the research said that the situation is critical. "We've lost control of the environment," he said. "The hazard is increasing and there is a necessity to start cleaning up space.

"NASA needs to determine the best path forward for tackling the multifaceted problems caused by meteoroids and orbital debris that put human and robotic space operations at risk," Kessler added.