Missing Tool Bag Spotted in Space

Watchers with telescopes in NJ, Ontario spot gear lost during spacewalk
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2008 4:42 PM CST
Missing Tool Bag Spotted in Space
This image provided by NASA shows the tool bag (the white dot on the upper right) shortly after it drifted away from an astronaut's grip.   (AP Photo)

Look, in the sky: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's … the tool bag that floated away during a spacewalk last week. A few backyard astronomers have spotted the shiny bag that drifted away from an astronaut outside the International Space Station. The $100,000 toolkit will be visible through binoculars by the end of next week in the evening skies over most of North America.

"We currently predict that the errant tool bag will fall back to Earth in June of next year," said a NASA official. It will burn up on re-entry, however, so there's little chance of saving those tools, which include two grease guns and a scraper. (More deep space stories.)

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