At least 16 people died and 16 are still missing following the ship's January 13 collision with rocks close to the shore of the Italian island of Giglio.
Although the predicted distance between the debris and the satellite seemed to preclude a collision, the fact that the close approach happened within 10 seconds of the change in orbit made the Feng Yun 1C debris the likely culprit, Kelso wrote in a blog post.
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Radar observations made during this week's close encounter with the asteroid Apophis have ruled out the risk of a collision with Earth in 2036, NASA says.