Mysterious Object Discovered Orbiting Earth: Not a Spaceship or Satellite. What Is It?
Recently, observers on Twitter shared images of a strange object that is neither a spaceship nor a satellite, but resembles a tool bag. It is located near the International Space Station (ISS) and moves around Earth in its own orbit.
This is actually a tool bag that was accidentally lost by NASA astronauts during a space mission.
The tool bag drifting in the sky. (Photo: NASA/JSC).
According to NASA, while astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara were conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on November 1, the tool bag caused them to slip and ultimately get lost.
As reported by EarthSky, this white bag is currently drifting in the sky, orbiting our planet, and can be observed with binoculars. “The bag shines surprisingly bright with a visual magnitude of 6, slightly less than Uranus when viewed from Earth,” EarthSky noted.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), stated that this bag even has an official name. This designation indicates that it has been recognized as an artificial object in orbit, with the code 58229 / 1998-067WC.
It is estimated that the lost tool bag will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in March 2024 and will burn up during this phase.
NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (top) and Loral O’Hara (bottom) collaborate on their first spacewalk on November 2. (Photo: NASA TV).
This is not the first time a human-made object has been accidentally lost in space.
In 2008, NASA astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper experienced helplessness as she watched her tool bag float away while attempting to repair a damaged component on the ISS.
The loss of this bag forced mission planners to alter the schedules for spacewalks that had been set for the Endeavour shuttle mission.
Earlier, in 2006, the late astronaut Piers Sellers lost his spoon in space while testing thermal protection repair techniques.
