back to article Tool bag lost in space now tracked by garbage watchers

A tool bag is orbiting Earth. No, this isn't an elaborate Elon Musk joke. The bag entered orbit during a spacewalk conducted by NASA astronauts and International Space Station residents Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara on November 1. During their almost seven-hour space stroll, during which they replaced bearings on a sun- …

  1. Admiral Grace Hopper

    Who, me?

    "Our heroine, who we'll Regomize as "Buzz", was performing field maintenance on behalf of her employer, NASA, when she noticed that her tool kit was moving increasingly out of reach".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Who, me?

      What a tool.

    2. mpi Silver badge

      Re: Who, me?

      ...on behalf of her employer, a sizeable Organisation in the Space-Exploration Business....

      1. Admiral Grace Hopper

        Re: Who, me?

        Perfect, thank you.

  2. Andy The Hat Silver badge

    "It's unfortunate we lost them, but not a huge impact,"

    So I presume there is another bag with the big impact drills in case they want to hang a picture on the wall?

    1. UCAP Silver badge
      Joke

      Its in the Russian module, last use to drill some holes to hang pictures of Putin from.

      (Comrade - do you know what that hissing noise is?)

    2. MOH

      Probably be a big enough impact if it hit you on the head

      (Yes, I know it'll burn up)

  3. Ball boy Silver badge

    The irony

    Said NASA: the bag contained some tethers....

    Bet someone wishes they'd used one of them now! :)

  4. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

    HMRC are keeping an eye on this one...

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities

  5. Empire of the Pussycat

    Tools in Spaaaaaaaaaace!

    ​​​​ ​​Because.

    1. Robert Moore
      Coat

      Re: Tools in Spaaaaaaaaaace!

      This had nothing to do with Elon.

  6. Dwarf

    Well, that’s going to put a spanner in the works

  7. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Why

    After the last time this happened, why don't the bags have velcro or some other form of attachment that is mandatory to use? Almost everything else has to be attached to someone/thing at all times.

    1. hoola Silver badge

      Re: Why

      What I was thinking as well. Given they cannot just nip down to B&Q to get a replacement I find a really crazy that they are able to lose an entire bag.

      1. Rich 11 Silver badge

        Re: Why

        they cannot just nip down to B&Q to get a replacement

        Well, they can, but getting back up might be a bit of a palaver.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why

      why don't the bags have velcro or some other form of attachment that is mandatory to use

      They do. I guess the trouble is that in order to get around outside the ISS, the bag needs to be constantly attached to then detached from anchor points as the astronaut moves down the spacecraft, and it was while being detached that the bag was lost due to clumsiness. Given that the space suits worn during an EVA have been described as less like suits and more like personal spacecraft, I think we can forgive the astronaut concerned for their lack of agility.

      1. Dom 3

        Re: Why

        https://msis.jsc.nasa.gov/sections/section14.htm says equipment is to be tethered at all times.

        If you've disconnected both at the same time it's a breach of procedure.

        1. TheWeetabix Bronze badge

          Re: Why

          Awkwardly, most of those rules are probably made by somebody who’s never held a hand tool in their life, worked at heights/with restraints, or been in space.

      2. J.G.Harston Silver badge

        Re: Why

        String. Everything can be solved with string.

        1. Martin Summers

          Re: Why

          "String. Everything can be solved with string."

          Well that's the theory anyway.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Coat

            Re: Why

            They use quantum string, but that's neither here nor there.

        2. that one in the corner Silver badge

          Re: Why

          > String. Everything can be solved with string.

          As was demonstrated by Raymond Baxter on Tomorrow's World, courtesy of The Goodies:

          https://goodies.fandom.com/wiki/It_Might_as_Well_Be_String

          (Sorry, couldn't find a YT clip of that bit: the string song is easy to find, but around here we want the sciencey bit)

          1. corbpm

            Re: Why

            I don't know WHY i read all that, but no regrets

      3. probgoblin

        Re: Why

        > we can forgive the astronaut concerned for their lack of agility.

        You can. I'm built different.

    3. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Why

      There *IS* a mandatory attachment system. There's a set of tethers, and you're required to attach the tether to the crewlock in the new location, then detach the old tether.

      The tethers are actually quite easy to use, so it's not onerous to perform the procedure.

      Unfortunately (IMHO) they're all the same color, so I think that results in a non-zero possibility of doing the procedure in the wrong order because you can't easily distinguish which is actually the "old" tether and which is the "new" tether.

      1. Anonymous Coward Silver badge

        Re: Why

        When I've had to use similar two-tether systems, the colouring has never mattered. Because each tether is either attached or in your hand in the process of being moved. If you only have one anchor point, both tethers attach there. When you move, it's one tether at a time - doesn't matter which way around.

        It just gets very tedious.

        But with these bags, I expected the tether to attach to the crew/suit rather than the spacecraft, so wouldn't need much tether moving.

  8. SVD_NL Silver badge
    Joke

    Such a shame

    'According to NASA, the bag lost in 2008 contained "two grease guns.."'

    Such a shame two iconic firearms will burn up in orbit because of this. Clearly their drill Sgt didn't traumatise them enough!

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Such a shame

      This is my grease-gun.

      There are many like it, but this one is mine.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It reminds me of Jules Verne's excellent "Around the moon", when they disposed of the dead dog by throwing it out of the window. Days later it was still there right outside the window, following the same trajectory as the space capsule.

    1. LenG

      Why people should read more SF

      There is a wonderful James White short story called Deadly Litter - the title says it all

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: Why people should read more SF

        Ta for that - I know his "Sector General" stories but haven't seen this one.

        Hmm, Amazon: second result for "deadly litter" is called "Sanicat", but no indication if that litter is deadly in and of itself or is just highly recommended as the litter to use when the target is "deadly".

    2. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

      Also seen in "Avenue 5" where the corpses orbited the ship indefinitely...

  10. wolfetone Silver badge

    I like to think that all the 10mm sockets that go missing from my toolbox end up in space.

    Because fuck knows where they are if they haven't!

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Facepalm

      If, when you find them, there's also a yellow handled jeweller's screwdriver with them please let me know.

      1. Zarno
        Alien

        I found one of those screwdrivers in a cupboard in my new house actually...

        Icon because I think the aliens are just messing with our inventories as they play SimLife...

    2. cosymart
      Holmes

      Spanners

      Not just 10mm sockets, people "borrow" my 10mm spanners. But only 10mm, what is it about this size? (For west pondians spanner = wrench)

      1. Mike 137 Silver badge

        Re: Spanners

        "But only 10mm, what is it about this size?"

        M6, one of the most common metric screw sizes.

      2. lnLog

        Re: Spanners

        For West pondians, spanner != wrench, a wrench has a camming action and usually knurling for grip (which bites into whatever is being torqued). I've seen west pondian mechanics tool kits from the early 1900s and it literally was wrenches used for working with nuts and bolts.

        1. PRR Silver badge
          Boffin

          Re: Spanners

          > For West pondians, spanner != wrench, a wrench has a camming action and usually knurling for grip

          Is there another pond?

          You are describing a "pipe wrench" aka 'Stillson' wrench. These "can" be used on bolts/nuts, but are heavy expensive and awkward. For over 100 years the USA/Canada market has had open-end and box-end (and combo) wrenches, socket wrenches (often with ratchet), 'Crescent(r)' adjustable parallel-jaw wrenches, strap/chain wrenches, Mummer wenches, and many others. (My latest 'Crescent wrench' is branded "Klein" and made by Irega in Spain....)

          Of course true cavemen use only $2 slop-joint pliers for ANY nut.

          1. PJD

            Re: Spanners

            When I worked in the mines adjustable parallel jaw wrenches were universally called 'AFS spanners' aka 'Any F*ing Size'..

      3. captain veg Silver badge

        Re: Spanners

        When I was a spotty youth you could almost entirely dismantle small capacity Honda motorbikes armed with just a 10mm spanner and a cross-head screwdriver. Maybe that's still true.

        -A.

        1. Tron Silver badge

          Re: Spanners

          I have never required more than a screwdriver, a pair of long-nosed pliers, gaffer tape and a bit of swearing for any hardware job.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Spanners

            Not a cyclist then? It's impossible to do basic modern bicycle maintenance without 3 or 4 allen keys nowadays in addition to a couple of spanners... Then there's the special tools for removing the bottom bracket and cassette, and for those a bit more modern than me, a brake bleed kit...

        2. Orv Silver badge

          Re: Spanners

          It's still one of the most common sizes they use. Almost any small bolt on a Honda car is likely to be 10mm as well. They use only a handful of sizes and they're almost all even (10, 12, 14, etc.), which makes it easy to guess which wrench you need.

        3. Rich 11 Silver badge

          Re: Spanners

          You can also almost entirely dismantle a Honda motorbike with a patch of black ice. But that's not so much fun.

          1. captain veg Silver badge

            Re: Spanners

            Or diesel if it's too warm for ice.

            -A.

          2. Orv Silver badge

            Re: Spanners

            I accidentally launched one into the back of my van while trying to load it on a trailer, but that only disassembled the front brake lever and one footpeg.

  11. tony72

    I'm surprised they don't have some sort of "space drone" that they can operate in the vicinity of the ISS. It would be useful for inspecting the exterior of the station or any docked vehicles without necessitating a space walk, as well as potentially retrieving wayward tool bags, if equipped with a suitable grabber.

    1. Marty McFly Silver badge

      No more MMU's

      Deemed not needed.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Maneuvering_Unit

    2. MOH

      Or a lasso

    3. Orv Silver badge

      Possibly deemed not worth the risk. Any time you have something maneuvering near the ISS under its own power, you risk a stuck thruster or maneuvering error causing it to crash into part of the station. This is also why supply vehicles don't dock under their own power, they park within reach of the Canadarm and are retrieved.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        > This is also why supply vehicles don't dock under their own power, they park within reach of the Canadarm and are retrieved.

        The Russian and US vehicles all need the helping hand, certainly, but the ESA ATV manages on its own, as described for the ATV Jules Verne: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ATV/Europe_s_automated_ship_docks_to_the_ISS

        Although the ATV isn't as good at getting materials back down from the ISS as the other vehicles can be.

  12. Roger Greenwood

    "A tool bag is orbiting Earth. No, this isn't an elaborate Elon Musk joke."

    It is now.

    Great article, thanks.

  13. KarMann Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Phrasing!

    "It's unfortunate we lost them, but not a huge impact," Weigel said.
    Are we still doing phrasing?

  14. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Joke

    Handbag

    Now, were this one of those exclusive designer handbags, would they have made more of effort to hang on to the thing?

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