The eyes of the world are onto this NASA astronaut for dropping a small mirror in space by accident, captured on video.
Astronaut Chris Cassidy lost grip of the mirror on his way for a spacewalk from the International Space Station, and to work on batteries. However, in the middle of the spaceflight, the mirror dropped, floating away at around a foot per second, NASA's data said.
Right now, the mirror will be one of the vast collections fo space junk that orbit around the planet.
The details
According to Mission Control, the mirror went detached from the spacesuit of Cassidy. And if you are worrying if the mirror will pose any threat or risk to the station or the spacewalk, NASA confirmed it will not.
The object came from the suit, as spacewalking astronauts wear a mirror around their wrist on each sleeve to get better views while working in space, similar to side mirrors in automobiles. It is at 3 inches by 5 inches, with the band at around one-tenth of a pound, Independent said.
"Cassidy and Bob Behnken, who followed him out without mishap, were conducting the first of at least four spacewalks to replace the last bunch of old station batteries," the report revealed.
Once these six new lithium-ion batteries have completed installation, the orbiting lab must be good for the remaining time of its operation life, NASA said in the report.
In big and boxy sizes, these batteries must be powerful and efficient than the older batteries of nickel-hydrogen, so the station keeps humming when it is on the planet's night side.
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The space work
These battery replacements started in 2017, with previous astronauts placing 18 batteries made from the lithium-ion compound. Half as many as from the old ones have been replaced.
There are more batteries that Benhken and Cassidy will plugin before the job is done. It is difficult to work with since each battery is about a meter tall and wide, and weighs 400 pounds each.
Throughout July, before Benkhen travels back to Earth in August, the spacewalks will continue. He will aboard the capsule, SpaceX Dragon.
Last May, Doug Hurley and Behnken made history as the first astronaut launch by the latest space mission. This was the seventh spacewalk for these astronauts in their careers. Each has committed 30 hours out in space's vacuum.
More news updates
Meanwhile, in other NASA news, the space administration is giving away $35,000 in prizes for anybody who can design toilets that can be utilized while on the Moon.
"Bonus points will be awarded to designs that can capture vomit without requiring the crew member to put his/her head in the toilet," the NASA guidelines stated.
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