New Delhi:
A new celestial object has caught the attention of celestial observers: a tool bag wandering in space around Earth. During a rare all-female spacewalk performed by NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara on Nov. 1, their tool bag slipped, NASA said. The astronauts made repairs to components that allow the ISS solar panels to continuously track the sun during their inaugural spacewalk, as documented by SciTechDaily.
“One tool bag was accidentally lost during the activity. Flight controllers spotted the tool bag using cameras from the remote station. The tools were not needed for the remainder of the spacewalk. Mission Control analyzed the bag’s trajectory and determined that the risk of re-contact with the station was great.” low and that the crew and space station on board are safe and no action is required,” NASA said on its blog.
The tool bag, which resembles a white school bag, exhibits surprising brightness, just below the visibility threshold for the naked eye. This brightness allows observers to spot it with binoculars, with a visual magnitude of about 6, slightly less bright than the ice giant Uranus, according to EarthSky. To track the bag, observers can locate the ISS, the third-brightest object in the night sky, using NASA’s Spot the Station tool. The bag orbits the Earth two to four minutes ahead of the ISS.
Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa spotted the bag floating above Mount Fuji last week, confirming the tracking, as spotted by astronaut Meganne Christian. The lost tool bag is expected to remain in orbit for several more months before quickly descending to Earth’s atmospheric inferno. Preliminary estimates suggest the toolbag should reappear in the atmosphere around March 2024, according to EarthSky.
Last seen by @Astro_Satoshi while hovering over Mount Fuji 🗻 the ‘Orbital Police’ can confirm that the lost EVA equipment is being tracked 🫡 https://t.co/wz4MITmAfMpic.twitter.com/eksfu9fPFw
—Dr. Meganne Christian (@astro_meganne) November 5, 2023
This incident is not the first time an object has been lost in space, nor is it the first time a lost tool bag has occurred. In 2008, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper experienced a similar incident while attempting to repair a damaged part of the ISS, changing plans for subsequent spacewalks. Furthermore, in 2006, astronaut Piers Sellers lost his spatula while testing a heat shield repair technique.