NASA astronauts dropped a toolbox the size of a sachet while conducting external maintenance operations in the International Space Station (ISS).
Toolbox Dropped by NASA Astronauts
The sachet-sized kit was used by Loral O'Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli from NASA. They were conducting a rare all-female space walk in order to fix a solar panel at the station. Initially, the astronauts were to remove a radio frequency group communications device. However, their time was running out. In order to get a better view of the task, they lifted some insulation. It is believed that the bag ended up drifting away during this time.
According to NASA, the tools inside it were no longer necessary for the rest of the space walk.
The toolbox floated away before it came to their attention. At present, the toolbox is orbiting the Earth a couple of minutes ahead of the ISS. It is currently moving at around 17,000 mph.
Controllers of NASA were able to note that the toolbox does not pose any risk to the ISS. It was seen to have a low risk of retracting the station and that the crew and the space station itself were safe. They also expect that it would end up burning up as it falls into the atmosphere of the Earth in the coming months.
The toolbox has been classified to be space junk. It has been designated the code 58229/1998-067WC.
The Toolbox May Be Seen From the Earth
Even if the toolbox is roughly 200 miles above the surface of the Earth, experts think that it can be viewed through a telescope or even a pair of binoculars on a clear evening. This is because the toolbox's white surface reflects the rays of the Sun strongly.
Satoshi Furukawa, a Japanese colleague of the astronauts who realized that he accidentally took a snap of the toolbox while capturing Mount Fuji as the ISS blazed over his homeland, was able to confirm the position of the toolbox.
The toolbox should be able to appear two to four minutes ahead of the International Space Station in the coming days. Controllers have jokingly expressed that the item should be attached with the AirTag tracking device so that the next orbit crew can pick it up.
Items Lost in Space
If the toolbox is similar to the bag that astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper lost in 2008, it would cost around $100,264, or £82,000, to have it replaced. In this earlier case, Stefanyshyn-Piper mislaid it as she was cleaning a leaking grease gun while working on one solar panel of the Endeavor space shuttle.
Going further back, spacewalker Piers Sellers reportedly lost a spatula in 2006, while Ed White, the first spacewalker from America, reportedly lost a spare glove when going outside for the first time in 1965.
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