Watch: Astronauts Accidentally Drop Toolbag During Spacewalk Orbiting Earth

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, during their inaugural spacewalk on November 1, accidentally dropped their toolbag and that floating kit is now visible from Earth. The two astronauts were performing maintenance on parts that allow the International Space Station (ISS) solar arrays to monitor the sun continuously and spent six hours and forty-two minutes in space.

NASA on the lost toolkit

NASA said, "One tool bag was inadvertently lost during the activity. Using external station cameras, flight controllers discovered the tool bag. The tools were not required for the duration of the spacewalk. After analysing the bag's trajectory, Mission Control determined that the risk of recontacting the station is low and that the onboard crew and space station are safe with no action required." 

Toolbag orbits Earth two to four minutes ahead of ISS

The toolbag exhibits surprising brightness and looks similar to a white satchel, just below the threshold of visibility to the naked eye. It is considerably brighter than the ice giant Uranus and can be seen using binoculars, according to EarthSky, with a magnitude of about 6. To track the bag, observers must locate the ISS, using NASA's Spot the Station tool, the third-brightest object in the night sky. The bag orbits Earth two to four minutes ahead of the International Space Station.

Toolbag spotted above Mount Fuji

Last week, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa spotted the bag floating above Mount Fuji, as reported by astronaut Meganne Christian. According to the EarthSky report, the missing toolbag is anticipated to remain in orbit for months before descending swiftly into Earth's atmosphere. Preliminary projections suggest that the toolbag will reenter the atmosphere around March 2024.

Previous objects lost in space

Certainly, there have been other instances of objects going missing in space; Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper experienced a similar incident in 2008 while attempting to repair an ISS component that caused plans for additional spacewalks to be revised. Furthermore, in 2006, astronaut Piers Sellers misplaced his spatula while trying a heat shield repair method.