When astronauts are conducting space walks they take special care not to float away into the black, an eventuality they might never return from. They take similar precautions with their tools however, during a recent mission, one astronaut “inadvertently lost” a bag of tools and now that bag is orbiting Earth.
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00:00When astronauts are conducting spacewalks, they take special care not to float away into the black,
00:09an eventuality they might never return from.
00:11They take similar precautions with their tools.
00:13However, during a recent mission, two astronauts inadvertently lost a bag of tools,
00:18and now that bag is orbiting Earth.
00:20This is an image of that very tool bag as it floats off on its own
00:24after U.S. astronauts Jasmine Mogbelli and Laurel O'Hara accidentally let it go.
00:29But that's not the end of the story.
00:31The bag has now been given its own satellite catalog number,
00:34and it can even be seen from the ground.
00:36Any amateurs who want to find it in the sky will at least need a pair of binoculars.
00:39But the bag now shines with the same brightness as a sixth magnitude star,
00:43or the faintest ones in the sky.
00:45That's largely because the bag is white and covered in a reflective coating,
00:49a necessity for when astronauts are performing work on the night side of the Earth.
00:53Luckily, the bag isn't expected to become an issue for the ISS astronauts.
00:56Despite having started its lone journey so close to the space station,
01:00still the bag's orbit will decay,
01:02and it will eventually enter our atmosphere where it's expected to burn up entirely upon reentry.
01:06However, this isn't the first item or even the first tool bag that has entered its own planetary orbit either.
01:12Back in 2008, this exact same thing happened.
01:15With that $100,000 tool bag burning up when it entered our atmosphere,
01:19nine months after it was lost.
01:21And then we'll see you soon.
01:22We'll see you soon.
01:23Let's see you soon at the Encharted 4 at 10.
01:24We'll see you soon.
01:25Bye.
01:26Bye.
01:27Bye.
01:28Bye.