Russian satellite narrowly avoids collision with US spacecraft, and NASA could do nothing to stop it

An artist's impression of the TIMED spacecraft scanning Earth in orbit.

An active NASA spacecraft has survived a near-miss with a defunct Russian satellite in low Earth orbit.

NASA's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission spacecraft and Russia's Cosmos 2221 satellite were due to closely pass each other at around 1:30 am EST on Feb. 28, at an altitude of about 373 miles (600 kilometers), according to a statement released by NASA just an hour before the near-miss.