Thursday, November 20, 2008

Astronaut loses tool bag during spacewalk

Astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost her tool bag during a spacewalk to lubricate the gears on the station's malfunctioning starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ). A grease gun inside her tool bag was leaking. She tried to clean it up and in the absence of gravity, the entire bag floated away. This is not the first item lost in space by astronauts. During a spacewalk in September, 2006, astronaut Joe Tanner accidentally lost a, spring, bolt and washer. In July, 2006 Astronauts Michael Fossum and Piers Sellers lost a 14" spatula when testing a method to repair a problem on the space shuttle. During a December spacewalk in 1998, astronaut Jerry Rice lost a thermal cover and 2 tools. Three accidents in 10 years by 4 astronauts losing tools and hardware materials. Once lost into space these items can change orbits and eventually strike the International Space Station. What would be so difficult into tying up all the items that they are going to use for repairs outside the space station into the astronauts suits or belts? This is not a Rocket Science suggestion, just common sense.

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