back to article NASA's lost toolbag filmed from Earth

The tool bag lost by NASA astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper during an ISS space walk has been filmed sailing over Earth by a veteran satellite observer over the weekend. SpaceWeather.com has a video recording of the backpack-sized bag's extended lesson in basic Newtonian physics made by Kevin Fetter from his backyard …

COMMENTS

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  1. Andy Taylor

    September 18th?

    Shouldn't that be the 18th of November?

  2. stizzleswick
    Coat

    Tie me 'roo down

    "[…] make sure everything is tried down on their remaining spacewalks."

    I'd say they're trying them _up_ there in orbit...

    But honestly, I'd completely hate to know how much junk we currently have drifting in orbit endangering both current and future space missions.

    Mine's the one with "My buddy went to the ISS and all I got was this lousy grease-stained jacket" across the back.

  3. James Traill

    How much?

    .."bag and contents cost about $100,000..." and I though B&Q were pricey.

  4. Bad Beaver
    Alert

    sick of this

    How can this darn drop still be an issue? They lost a darn 100k bag, so what? Shit happens. Each and every launch costs about as much as it would take to end hunger in Africa (feel free to replace with shame of your choice). People DIE exploring space. I remember when people cared about the whole thing, and not only when another shuttle goes down. If all the excitement NASA can generate these days comes from someone dropping a greasy bag o' bolts, something is very wrong.

  5. Moss Icely Spaceport
    Alien

    The handbag has landed

    One small tool-bag for women, one giant hold-all for womankind.

    * Apologies to Mr Armstrong

  6. anarchic-teapot
    Joke

    That is never a grease gun

    I looked at the video, that's never a grease gun unless there's some new euphemism I'm not yet aware of. I can only assume one of the female astronauts took one look at her male colleagues and added the useful little implement to the - ahem - Tool kit.

  7. Allan Rutland
    Coat

    If it hits someone...

    doesn't that mean they'll die from a tool from space?

  8. stizzleswick
    Thumb Up

    @Vacuum.Head

    Not to worry; I was using hyperbole. As an old space buff, I _do_ know approximately how much debris we _know_ to have cluttering our skies... though that does not stop me from wishing I didn't. Thanks for the links!

  9. Allan Dyer
    Coat

    Spacetravel is just like living on Earth

    The builders still haven't finished your dream home. You call for a plumber, takes ages to arrive, and still can't fix the problem. Someone goes out for a walk and looses their bag. The local buses are clapped out, about to be junked, but there's no plans to buy new ones. I'm only surprised that the bag didn't also contain a laptop with NASA's entire staff details...

    Mine's the one with the Shuttle Annual Pass in the pocket.

  10. Steve Roper
    Coat

    @Vacuum.Head

    Your information is incomplete and insufficient to allow us to locate the object in question. We also need to know the RA, Dec. and precession velocity of the ascending node, as well as the time of separation and the RA and Dec. of the ISS at that time, in order to be able to track it. :)

    Mine's the grease-stained one with the much thumbed ephemeris in the pocket, ta...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Insert...

    ...joke about the Star-Mangled Spanner here.

  12. Torben Mogensen

    Magnitude 8

    The magnitude measure of stars originate with the ancient Greeks, which had magnitude 1 as the brightest stars in the sky and magnitude 6 as the faintest visible with the naked eye on a clear night. Assuming equal relative decrease in brightness, an increase of 1 in magnitude roughly halves the brightness. Modern magnitudes are defined so a magnitude 6 start is 1/100th the brightness of a magnitude 1 star, which makes the decrease in brightness roughly by 2.5 per step. Also, the brightest stars may now have negative magnitude (Sirius has magnitude about -1.5).

    A magnitude 8 object is about as bright as Neptune, which you do need a telescope to see.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    I'm not impressed

    with the piss poor performance on this Shuttle Mission

  14. Dr Patrick J R Harkin

    What would the dormouse have said?

    Twinkle, twinkle little toolkit

    In a fast decaying orbit.

    As you fall to earth below

    Please don't land upon my toe.

  15. Gianni Straniero
    Boffin

    "We'll just assume that means it was pretty."

    Magnitude is a measure of brightness. It means it would be invisible to the naked eye even under perfect viewing conditions. The larger the magnitude, the fainter the object.

  16. NB
    Paris Hilton

    surely..

    That little ditty would sound better as:

    twinkle twinkle little tote,

    How long, I wonder, will you float?

    the original is just terse and fits no discernible rhyme scheme.

    Paris, cos she can hold my tool anyday.

  17. Nano nano

    Spinoff ?

    I thought Velcro was invented for just this eventuality - or were those stories about Teflon etc. just hype to justify the space-race ?

  18. Psmiffy

    "make sure everything is tried down"

    tried down where exactly?

  19. Robert Ramsay

    @Allan Rutland

    ...or a star-mangled spanner...

    (Apologies to Arthur C. Clarke)

  20. Psymon
    Paris Hilton

    And that's why...

    ...you never let a woman borrow your tools.

    "Honey, have you seen my toolbag?"

    "Have you tried looking in lower orbit?"

    Paris, cause that's one tool i'd love to have pictures of burning up on re-entry

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Falling to toolbag to be followed

    Shortly by falling stoolbag, so I hear.

    // mine is Gordon's

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    "NO TOOLS LEFT IN VEHICLE"

    Even that's arguable. :)

  23. Luther Blissett

    US Navy to think of the children

    The USN could make short shrift of shooting this bag of bits to (whacky jacqui) smithereens - just as soon as the right fule moon comes along.

    So, who's it to be?

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    wouldn't it be great...

    If the shuttle were to retrieve the toolbag once it has departed from the ISS?

    Surely some unscheduled canada arm work would be a good exercise...

    afterall they dont shut the cargo bay until re-entry...

    mind you, just because the toolbag cost 100K doesn't mean its worth it!

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Anybody care to place a wager

    as to how long it takes for someone to use this toolkit as a handy deus ex machina in a two-bit SF offering?

  26. Sam

    How Much??

    "$100,000"

    So what exactly was wrong with fucking Screwfix??

  27. stizzleswick

    deus non machina ex

    "Anybody care to place a wager {By Anonymous Coward Posted Tuesday 25th November 2008 21:28 GMT} as to how long it takes for someone to use this toolkit as a handy deus ex machina in a two-bit SF offering?"

    You're late for that one... that entire theme has already been used by R.A. Heinlein, Norbert Dillich, Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg, and a whole load of others in the mid-50s, and some others since then.

    Sorry... not really an original theme. Try Kurt Vonnegut for a pretty unique take on the general idea.

  28. Allan Dyer
    Boffin

    @Torben Mogensen

    So what's the magnitude of the brightest star in the sky, you know, the one called "Sol"?

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