Houston, I've Dropped My Toolbag!

[WF_Tomba]

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to surround the space station with some kind of netting?

[Omegaman]

Something, anything. I couldn’t tell you if two sided tape would work in space, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t . I can not believe a country as great as ours doesn’t have a plan for shit like this happening. I wouldn’t want to be the joker working on something, and anything, even a simple nut getting away from me. It’s space for crying out loud, not some dorks garage.

[Great_Dave]

@WF_Tomba

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to surround the space station with some kind of netting?

It has extra thick walls or some such to mitigate any potential collisions with debris.

[Great_Dave]

@Omegaman

Something, anything. I couldn’t tell you if two sided tape would work in space, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t . I can not believe a country as great as ours doesn’t have a plan for shit like this happening. I wouldn’t want to be the joker working on something, and anything, even a simple nut getting away from me. It’s space for crying out loud, not some dorks garage.

I agree that space missions require extreme care n execution. That doesn’t eliminate all accidents from happening.

[WF_Tomba]

@Great_Dave

It has extra thick walls or some such to mitigate any potential collisions with debris.

I was actually thinking of a net to catch objects (or, god forbid, astronauts) that accidentally float away. It would make this type of accident a lot less expensive. Of course, this being spaceflight, the net itself would probably cost several million dollars . . .

[Quartz]

Why is it accelerating away from the ISS? Surely it should just maintain a constant distance?

[Quartz]

Never mind - had a Mong moment there - it’s not accellerating, it’s moving away with a constant velocity (adjusted for gravity).

[Tuckerfan]

Brits can see the toolbag this week.

A computer model has been developed for the tool bag (see link below answer box). But finding its exact location in the sky depends on your location on Earth. For example, it will appear lower in the sky from the north of England and Scotland than the south.

Equipped with your latitude and longitude coordinates, the model will calculate the time to see the tool bag, the altitude it will be at and the magnitude, which specifies its brightness compared with stars.

Usually the bag is below 6th magnitude, which is naked-eye visibility. This means you will need the right equipment to see it - binoculars or a telescope. Even with these it will be difficult to see, says Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society.

[Henrichek]

@Tuckerfan

Brits can see the toolbag this week.

And here is an amateur astronomer’s video recording of the toolbag.