Ongoing analysis of the trajectory of a piece of space junk that was believed to pose a possible threat to the International Space Station shows the debris will not pass close enough to the lab complex to force the crew to seek refuge in their Soyuz lifeboats, a NASA official said late Friday.

An agency spokesman said the station's six-member crew will be awakened early, at 10 p.m. EST as planned, but the astronauts will be told to go back to bed and not to press ahead with a tentative plan to shelter in place aboard the station's Soyuz ferry craft.

Earlier Friday, NASA flight controllers predicted the debris, of unknown origin, could pass within about six-tenths of a mile of the space station at 10:48 p.m., toward the end of the crew's normal sleep period. During the evening planning conference Friday afternoon, the astronauts were told to plan on getting up early so they could make their way to the Soyuz lifeboats by around 10:30 p.m. if necessary.

After additional analysis, flight controllers concluded the unidentified debris would not pose a threat to the station, according to a NASA spokesman.