The tool bag that a NASA astronaut lost during extravehicular activities is now floating in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of about 400 km. The tool bag is expected to gradually drop in altitude before entering the Earth’s atmosphere and disappearing.
On the 17th, through its official channels, NASA introduced the loss of the tool bag of astronauts Jasmine Mogbeli (40) and Loral O’Hara (40), who went on their first extravehicular activity for regular inspection of the International Space Station (ISS) on the 1st.
According to NASA, the two astronauts worked outside the ISS for about seven hours, replacing bearings in the solar array and repairing external camera cables. During this process, an unexpected situation occurred where the cable of the tool bag used by the pilots came loose.
Tool bag photographed by ISS’s outboard camera on the 2nd of this month <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>
Immediately afterwards, the astronauts checked the condition of the tool bag with the ISS camera and determined that the risk of collision with the hull was low. The aviators predicted that the tool pouch, whose altitude gradually decreased, would enter the atmosphere and burn up around March next year.
Currently, the tool bag in question is classified as an object in Earth’s orbit and is being officially tracked by the U.S. Space Force (USSF). The location is being revealed to the public in real time. The tool pocket, which has a brightness of about magnitude 6 and is slightly darker than Uranus, can also be observed from the ground with binoculars.
There are more cases of astronauts losing something in outer space. In 1965, an astronaut during extravehicular activities forgot his gloves, and in 2006, NASA astronaut Pierce Sellers accidentally lost a tool while performing restoration work on the side of the hull of the Space Shuttle Discovery docked at the ISS. The tool entered Earth’s atmosphere and disappeared four months later.
Jasmine Mogbeli and astronaut Loral O’Hara captured by the ISS outboard camera on the 1st <사진=NASA TV 공식 홈페이지>
Concerns in the international community are growing as even professionally trained astronauts accidentally cause space debris. According to a report released by the United Nations (UN) in 2022, there are about 130 million pieces of space debris in Earth’s orbit that are too small to be tracked.
As the amount of space debris in Earth’s orbit increases, the likelihood of it colliding with a satellite or ISS increases. Damage to satellites could affect the Global Positioning System (GPS), communications, and weather observations, and further scattering of debris could render its orbit around the Earth unusable.
Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr
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