Astronomy enthusiasts have a new celestial target to observe – a tool bag floating in space near Earth. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara lost the tool bag during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). The bag, officially known as a crew lock bag, is currently orbiting just ahead of the ISS. Although not visible to the naked eye, the bag can be seen with binoculars as it has a visual magnitude of around 6, slightly dimmer than the ice giant Uranus.
To catch a glimpse of the tool bag, observers can track the space station over the next few months. The bag is floating two to four minutes ahead of the station and is expected to disintegrate at an altitude of approximately 70 miles over Earth. However, it is not the first time a tool bag has reached orbit, as a similar incident occurred in 2008.
The bag’s escape was documented by reserve astronaut Meganne Christian, who shared footage on her social media account. Crew-7 astronaut Satoshi Furukawa was the last to spot the tool bag high above Mount Fuji. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell revealed that the bag is in a roughly 258 by 258 mile orbit and has been catalogued in the U.S. Space Force’s system.
This incident adds to the growing collection of artificial space debris encircling Earth. There are remnants from shuttles, damaged satellites, and tools from previous space missions. It serves as a reminder of the need for proper management and disposal of space debris to ensure the safety of future space operations.
In the realm of peculiar items in orbit, the tool bag joins the ranks of a spatula that was accidentally released by Nasa astronaut Piers Sellers during the space shuttle Discovery’s flight STS-121 in 2006.
