The rocket trash did not impact a spacewalk Thursday, during which two astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery installed a new ammonia tank used in the cooling system.
Space junk poses an impact danger for the ISS and occasionally warrants moving the station slightly to avoid a collision or placing astronauts in an evacuation capsule until the danger is past. In March, a piece of a Chinese rocket merited turning the ISS by 180 degrees to avoid a collision.
There are an estimated 13,000 pieces of space junk, according to the European Space Agency.