A bag of tools that drifted away from astronauts on Nov. 1 while on a maintenance spacewalk outside the International Space Station is in a slowing orbit around the Earth – and for now is giving stargazers an extra artificial object to look for in the night sky.
During a spacewalk that lasted six hours and 42 minutes, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara completed one of the spacewalk’s objectives, replacing a trundle bearing assembly that helps the port solar alpha array to track the Sun and generate electricity for the station.
In images of the spacewalk, the tool bag – NASA calls it a crew lock bag – was visible as the astronauts worked.
While performing an ensuing task to stow a communications box, the astronauts determined there wasn’t enough time to finish the task. While assessing the task, the tool bag drifted away and was irretrievable. The tools were not needed for additional work on that spacewalk.
That same day, during “unrelated Earth observation activities,” Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa captured a photo of the drifting bag.
What is in the space tool bag?
According to NASA, the crew lock bag contained tethers, hardware handling aids, and a ratchet wrench with a socket. A NASA representative estimated the value of the bag and contents at “around $100,000” if it were to be purchased today.
In all, the bag and tools weighed 42.9 pounds.
The crew aboard the space station was not without the tools for very long – a replacement bag was delivered to the space station on Nov. 11 aboard NASA’s SpaceX 29th commercial resupply mission, and NASA said the impact on station operations was minimal.
Where is the crew lock bag now?
After analyzing the trajectory of the bag, Mission Control confirmed the bag is gradually deorbiting and does not pose a risk to the space station and onboard crew on its present trajectory. It is estimated that the bag will remain in orbit until spring to midsummer 2024 and disintegrate when it reaches 70 miles above the Earth’s surface.
In the meantime, there have already been reports of crew lock bag sightings. Astronomy news site EarthSky reports the bag has a visual magnitude of +6, making it just a bit too dark to see with the naked eye but visible with a pair of binoculars, if you know where to look. The bag shares an orbit with the space station and is traveling several minutes ahead, though the time gap is increasing as the bag gradually loses orbit.
To find out when the space station is passing by your area, use NASA’s Spot The Station tool to determine the station’s orbit and location in the sky.
SOURCES NASA; EarthSky