In a twist of extraterrestrial events, a toolbag from a spacewalk has become a novel celestial entity, orbiting Earth after eluding NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara during an all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on November 1.
While engaged in repairs on components enabling the ISS solar arrays to track the sun continuously, the astronauts inadvertently lost the toolbag. NASA, monitoring external station cameras, confirmed the toolbag’s trajectory and assessed a low risk of recontacting the station, ensuring the safety of the onboard crew and the space station.
Observers on Earth, armed with binoculars, have the opportunity to witness this unexpected addition to the cosmos. The toolbag, shining just below the threshold of naked-eye visibility, boasts a visual magnitude of approximately 6, slightly dimmer than Uranus, making it discernible to keen skywatchers.
To spot the toolbag, enthusiasts can locate the ISS using NASA’s Spot the Station tool, with the bag orbiting Earth a few minutes ahead of the ISS. Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa recently observed the bag floating over Mount Fuji.
The lost space gear is anticipated to remain in orbit for several months before reentering Earth’s atmosphere around March 2024, where it will meet a fiery demise. While this occurrence isn’t the first instance of an object lost in space, it adds a new chapter to the cosmic saga, reminiscent of previous toolbag misadventures during spacewalks in 2008 and 2006.
