Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Astronauts end space walk marred by lost tool bag

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-19 15:20

In this image from NASA TV, astronaut Stephen Bowen maneuvers down the cargo bay of the space shuttle Endeavour as he prepares to assist astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper in placing an empty nitrogen tank into the shuttle's cargo bay, November 18, 2008. [Agencies]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A spacewalking astronaut accidentally let go of her tool bag Tuesday after a grease gun inside it exploded, and helplessly watched as the tote and everything inside floated away.

It was one of the largest items ever to be lost by a spacewalker, and occurred during an unprecedented attempt to clean and lube a gummed-up joint at the international space station.

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper was just starting to work on the joint when the mishap occurred.

She said her grease gun exploded, getting the dark gray stuff all over a camera and her gloves. While she was wiping everything off, the white, backpack-size bag slipped out of her grip, and she lost all her tools.

"Oh, great," she mumbled.

She and her fellow spacewalker, Stephen Bowen, then finished their tasks in almost seven hours by sharing tools. Bowen had his own tool bag with another set of grease guns, putty knives and oven-like terry cloth mitts to wipe away metal grit from the joint.

"Despite my little hiccup, or major hiccup, I think we did a good job out there," Stefanyshyn-Piper said after returning to the space station.

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Page