“Oh, Great!” Astronaut Accidentally Litters in Space While Cleaning Solar Panel

A spacewalking astronaut clung to the outside of the International Space Station, trying to clean and lube a gummed-up solar panel. Just as she got started, a grease gun in her tool bag exploded, getting dark gray stuff all over her helmet camera and her gloves. The surprised woman, struggling to wipe herself off, accidentally let go of the backpack-sized bag. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper watched helplessly as the tool bag floated off into space.

“Oh, great,” she mumbled.

It’s one of the largest items ever to be lost by a spacewalker – another piece of random junk floating around in space. Flight controllers are still assessing how the runaway tool bag might affect the next three planned spacewalks. Before the mishap, Stefanyshyn-Piper says she watched as a vagabond screw went floating by, too far away to catch.  The screw was not considered a serious hazard, but it sounds as if the bag might be.

Despite what she called a “hiccup”, Stefanyshyn-Piper finished her job by sharing tools with fellow spacewalker Stephen Bowen. The efforts to repair the solar panel were unprecedented – for more than a year, the jammed joint had been unable to automatically point the right-side solar wings toward the sun for maximum energy production.

Hey, we all know how hard it can be to hold onto things when lube is involved.

Via [The Independent]

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