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Dropped Shuttle Toolbag Filmed From Earth
cathector writes "An article at spaceweather.com reports that the toolbag dropped during Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper's spacewalk has been recorded on film from earth: 'When Endeavour astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper dropped her toolbag during a spacewalk on Nov. 18th and it floated away, mission controllers probably figured they'd seen the last of it. Think again. Last night, Nov. 22nd, veteran satellite observer Kevin Fetter video-recorded the backpack-sized bag gliding over his backyard observatory in Brockville, Ontario. "It was easily 8th magnitude or brighter as it passed by the 4th magnitude star eta Pisces," he says. Spaceweather's satellite tracker is monitoring the toolbag.'"
The actual loss of the bag was filmed, too; reader Kagura links in a comment on the original story to this YouTube clip of the bag's escape.
WTF
Chuck
Timestamp 1: Witnesses as far as 720 kilometers apart reported seeing what looked like a bright meteor falling somewhere on the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary around 5:30 pm MT Thursday, according to the CBC.
Timestamp 2: Last night, Nov. 22nd, veteran satellite observer Kevin Fetter video-recorded the backpack-sized bag gliding over his backyard observatory in Brockville, Ontario.
So, no.
No, it's a trap!
O.o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QUPZKBRt0
The tether line is your friend
NASA guessed the bag/tools as being worth USD$100,000.00...
Bad Astronomy posted an entry devoted to refuting this idea! As Phil Plait says, the very fact that the toolkit has just been sighted shows that it's still up there, and could not have been the fireball.
Simple: when the shuttle's done at the station, detach and intercept the bag in orbit. Voila, $100k saved.
Not a chance. That bag doesn't just float somewhere around the station, it is on an orbital trajectory of its own -
by now probably quite far from the ISS in fact. And unless Heidemarie aimed very carefully, it isn't even in the same
orbital plane. The shuttle doesn't carry enough fuel to do plane transfer maneuvers (that's the main reason why timing is important when launching), and even if it did, it would take a hell of a lot of maneuvering to do a full orbital
realignment - which would probably cost more in fuel alone than those $100k.
It's not that morbid, though it probably would give a spacewalker a bit of a scare. But in the event that they lose both tethers and float off, they also have the SAFER packs to get them back.
FYI it will not burn up for some time.
I record my sleeptalking
The statement "Lord, please don't let me fuck this up" was originally referred to as "The Shepard's Prayer", after the first US astronaut, Alan Shepard. He reportedly "recited" it while on the pad awaiting his Mercury flight, not knowing that his mike was hot, and everyone in launch control was listening in.
Shepard also ended up having to pee in his spacesuit on the pad, because the engineers hadn't considered the effects of having a man lying on his back with his legs elevated for several hours before launch.
The glory days of manned spaceflight...:)
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I think you are wrong.
I know I'm not. I've calculated stuff like this before.
The velocity relative to the ISS is a few metres per second at the most.
You'd be surprised how difficult it is to catch up even in those orders of magnitude.
Orbital maneuvering is hard, and very unintutive. NASA had to learn this the hard way:
The early rendez-vous missions assumed it would be possible to fly manual visual approaches once the
target is in sight. Didn't work. Maneuvering out-of-plane is also energetically very expensive.
Because it got a single impulse it will keep coming back once an orbit.
True, the orbits intersect in space. But not in time, due to different excentricity.
The shuttle/ISS will not be at the section point the next time the bag comes along.
I don't think catching it with the shuttle on this mission is impossible.
If the orbital periods have a common integer multiple (unlikely), they could wait and try a very risky
catch-the-bag EVA (exactly one chance) - but they will probably run out of time, air and other
supplies before this would be possible even then.
Just accept it: It's impossible.
how about a magnetically secured line attached to the work surface?
You are assuming that there exists a ferromagnetic surface which would attract a magnet. Remember what the ISS is mostly made of.
Actually, the brightest star in the sky (aside from sol/the sun) is Sirius, which has a negative magnitude at -1.42.
Because things we send up there really get that cold. They have to radiate the heat from the pre-launch to get that cold, and they won't - the ISS catches too much heat from the sun.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Yes. The ISS is in a decaying orbit (a non-decaying orbit would be way-the-fuck-up-there and at blistering velocity), which means the toolbag is too. The difference? The toolbag won't be getting an orbit boost from a spacecraft later.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Not a true story.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
Mostly, they do.
From http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/pdf/educator-ecosystem_edu.pdf
In orbit portions of the ISS will be exposed to direct sunlight 16 times per Earth day.
Temperatures on these occasions can climb to over 120 degrees Celsius. The ISS will
also be exposed to complete darkness or lack of radiant energy. Temperatures can
plummet to -100 degrees Celsius. Thus, the internal environment of both spacecraft
and space suit, developed for extravehicular activity, must have an active temperature
regulation system that maintains a narrow range of thermal comfort.
The ISS' orbit decreases by about 4km per month. If we consider reentry at ~75km (completely arbitrary,
and probably quite a bit off), the ISS itself would come down in about five to six years, give or take. The toolbag
has a higher density than the ISS, so the deceleration by atmospheric drag should be a bit lower. That puts the time to reentry
in the order of magnitude of very roughly ten years.
I always amaze me the fact that there is one xkcd strip for every topic that comes about in slashdot.
-- dnl
There's your problem - no Chinese guys are touching your Snap-On tools unless they're working in an American factory. Snap-On's one of the few companies who still make their tools in US and A.
Also, what kind of snap on boxes are you guys buying for $300 and where can I get one? Their cheapest roll cabs are in the region of $2-3k...
I read that the tool bag was in a larger bag and the larger bag was secure. The tool bag was not secure within the larger bag (once it was opened).
There's your problem - no Chinese guys are touching your Snap-On tools unless they're working in an American factory. Snap-On's one of the few companies who still make their tools in US and A.
Not true any more... just another company selling Chinese junk at American prices.
http://www.snapon.com.cn/snapon/en/index.htm
Seems to be down at this moment, but from the google cache of that page:
With an 86-year experience, Snap-on now focus on China. We set up a factory with well-trained engineers and workers in Kunshan, China. The world-class products produced are not only for China market, but for all the Asia Pacific Area. We also established a trading company, Snap-on Trading ( Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Our professional team can serve the customers throughout the country through a distribution network consisted of 6 Branch Offices and over 120 resellers.
Here's the factory address should you care to visit
SNAP-ON ASIA MANUFACTURING (KUNSHAN) CO., LTD
ADD: 500 Tong Feng East Road, Kunshan, Jiangsu 215300, PRC
TEL: 86-512-57708282
FAX: 86-512-57708383
Or how about this press release linked from the snap-on website?
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=90531&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1133066&highlight=china
Snap-on Announces First Quarter 2008 Results
Reports EPS from continuing operations of $0.97 compared to $0.64 last year; Completes acquisition of 60% interest in Chinese hand tool manufacturer
"We are also very pleased to announce that Snap-on recently completed the acquisition of a 60% interest in Zhejiang Wanda Tools Co., Ltd., a hot-forged hand tool manufacturer in China," said Pinchuk. "This strategic joint venture builds on Snap-on's current presence in the region and complements the company's existing production capabilities in Kunshan, China. Our majority ownership of Wanda Tools, our first hand tool manufacturing facility in China, is expected to be a key contributor to our future state and is another important step in extending Snap-on's manufacturing capability and market coverage in emerging markets around the world."
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Yeah, I know all that. They make Blu-Point tools in China. Snap-On branded hand tools are still all USA made.