A recent report from Russia picked up by various news services had the International Space Station (ISS) in collision avoidance mode to dodge fragments from China’s anti-satellite (ASAT) test last month.

Word now is that the facts got lost in translation or was a botched bit of misinterpretation.

According to NASA over the weekend, no collision avoidance maneuver has yet been performed by ISS due to debris from Fengyun-1C - an old Chinese weather satellite used by China for ASAT target practice on January 11.

The ISS will normally consider a maneuver if the risk of collision exceeds 1 in 10,000.

But there’s still need to keep an eye on all that space clutter generated by China - upwards of 900 bits of refuse strewn in Earth orbit at last count. The busting up of the weather satellite is being called the most prolific and serious fragmentation in the course of 50 years of space operations.

Meanwhile, some military space watching groups are turning their attention to another twist to the China ASAT event.

Just how much did U.S. intelligence sources know ahead of time that the test was in the works? And given past early whistle blowing by the U.S. of provocative actions taken by Iran and North Korea - why no pre-ASAT public spotlighting of China’s intentions?

Stay tuned….