This Thursday, March 30, 2017, ISS astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson performed a « spacewalk », a spacewalk intended to carry out small jobs outside the Station. A slight mishap happened as they lost a blanket, which is now floating freely in space.
Experience does not prevent the unexpected. Indeed, this Thursday, March 30, 2017 was a spacewalk for Commander Shane Kimbrough, his second spacewalk, and Peggy Whitson, engineer, who then broke two records: she became the woman who holds the record for the number of spacewalks, with eight spacewalks, as well as the oldest woman to walk in space, at 57. Except that not everything went as planned this Thursday, relays ScienceAlert.
The two astronauts lost in space a large white blanket intended to protect an exposed part of the ISS against micrometeorites and extreme temperatures. The object was one of four that the astronauts had to install to protect the open space of one of the docking stations.
Immediately alerted by the two experienced astronauts, « Mission Control » began to follow the 1.5 m and 8 kg object which was then floating in space. The situation was quickly resolved thanks to the quick thinking of the members of the team present on Earth and it was a temporary cover that was deployed on the reception dock. » You guys came up with a fantastic plan real quick “said Peggy Whitson then. It’s not perfect, but it will do temporarily.
Initially, it was feared that the object posed a danger of collision with the ISS. But by following the object from the moment of its loss, the members of the control center were able to quickly conclude that it presented no danger to the International Space Station, as can be read in a press release published by NASA.