Have you heard? An astronaut’s tool bag that was accidentally lost during a recent spacewalk at the International Space Station is now rotating around the Earth, creating what looks like a new artificial star in the night sky.
According to NASA, the tool bag was lost while astronauts were conducting maintenance work outside the space station. The agency assured that there’s little risk of the tools hitting the International Space Station, as Mission Control has analyzed the bag’s trajectory and determined that it poses a low risk of recontacting the station.
Notably, the lost tool bag is now orbting about a minute ahead of the space station, and its stellar magnitude of +6 means it may be challenging to spot with the naked eye, but keen skywatchers may be able to see it with a pair of binoculars.
If you’re interested in trying to see the tool bag in orbit, you can track the space station based on your location using NASA’s Spot the Station mobile app and website. The ISS is typically the third-brightest object in the night sky and looks like a fast-moving plane to the naked eye.
As the tool bag continues to orbit the Earth, it will remain visible in the night sky for a few months before its orbit degrades and it eventually falls back toward Earth, safely burning up in the atmosphere.
Excitingly, the lost tool bag has captivated the attention of skywatchers around the world, adding a new and unexpected spectacle to the beauty of the night sky.
