Saturday, November 29, 2008

Nasa's Lost Toolkit Seen in the Sky

A few days ago an amateur astronomer saw something fly across the sky. Since he's got some background knowledge about celestial projectiles, he knew that this was not a shooting star, comet, or meteor. A UFO was just as unlikely. What it was, was Nasa's toolkit which astronomer Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost during a spacewalk to lubricatethe station's malfunctioning starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, or SARJ, which is designed to allow the solar panels on the left side of the station to rotate and track the sun. The cost of the bag is an estimated $100,000. Kevin Fetter of Brockville, Ontario, the amateur astronaut, saw it with his own home telescope. He followed the coordinates from the U.S. military, according the Toronto Star. Luckily he filmed the kit which is now considered space debris.

The video can be seen here or go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRW4ibfaZHI

No comments: