Alexander Lewis
Nov 14, 2023
Ah, the cosmos never ceases to amaze us, presenting us with celestial wonders beyond the stars. Among these wonders now floats an unexpected addition — a remarkably bright toolbag swirling through the boundless space enveloping our Earth. The bag's daring escape occurred on November 2, 2023, slipping away from NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara during their spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS).
This toolbag, accurately named a crew lock bag, currently orbits Earth just ahead of the ISS, shining with a visual magnitude of about 6, as reported by EarthSky. That places its brightness slightly below that of Uranus, the seventh planet in our solar system. While not visible to the naked eye due to its dimness, sky gazers armed with binoculars stand a chance to catch a glimpse of this cosmic voyager.
To behold this celestial sight, enthusiasts can track the space station's scheduled appearances using NASA's recently launched app. The toolbag glides a mere two to four minutes ahead of the station and is expected to meet its demise as it plunges swiftly, disintegrating around 70 miles (113 kilometres) above our planet's surface.
Videos shared by European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut Meganne Christian on her X account showcased the exact moment the toolbag slipped from Moghbeli's grip. Christian noted its last sighting by Crew-7 astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, gracefully dancing high above Mount Fuji.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics (CfA), took to X to share insights into the bag's orbit, circling Earth in an approximately 258 by 258 mile (415 by 416 kilometre) trajectory. McDowell also unveiled the bag's official designation in the US Space Force's catalogue for artificial orbiting objects — 58229 / 1998–067WC.
This errant toolbag now joins the multitude of human-made space debris encircling our planet, ranging from shuttle fragments to dismantled satellites and astronaut equipment.
Strangely enough, this isn't the first time a toolbag has ventured into orbit. In 2008, during an ISS solar panel repair attempt, NASA astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost grip of another toolbag, embarking on its own celestial journey.
Yet, in the cosmic anthology of weird objects, none can rival the oddity of a humble spatula. NASA astronaut Piers Sellers inadvertently released this kitchen utensil while applying heat-shield repair slime during the space shuttle Discovery's STS-121 mission in 2006.
