Missing Space Equipment Bags From NASA Astronauts Will Be Visible In The UK Sky

Tas alat yang tercersah oleh astrous selama spacewalk dan akan terlihat saat melintasi darat Inggris. (foto: kok. nasa)

JAKARTA - Usually, people turn to the sky to see the spectacular view of a planet, meteor shower, or eclipse. However, on November 24, the sky will present a more unusual sight, namely a bag of equipment that is scattered by astronauts during the spacewalk and will be visible when crossing mainland England.

NASA's Jasmin Moghbel and Loral O'Hara lost the bag while trying to repair solar panels on the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this month.

The bag was later spotted by astronomers, who said that because the tool was so bright, it should have been seen by people on the ground if they had binoculars or telescopes.

The bag will be seen between 18:24 and 18:34 GMT 24 November, as long as the weather doesn't get in the way.

People in the south of England may have the best chance of seeing it, and the current Met Office weather forecast shows that it shouldn't have been too cloudy at the time. The best time to see it was November 24 between 17:30 and 17:41 GMT.

The bag, which orbits Earth at a speed of 17,000 mph about five minutes faster than the ISS, is classified as space junk and is numbered ID 58229/1998-067WC.

Moghbel told the control mission after the bag was spotted: "In the most unlikely event, Satoshi is actually... taking photos of Mount Fuji and also capturing good photos of missing items, a good crew key bag from yesterday. Maybe the bag wants to see Mount Fuji, I think."

The astronaut actually plans to remove a communication device called a radio frequency group but is running out of time during their six-hour spacewalk.

They have raised some isolations to get a better view of the upcoming tasks, and it is believed the bags were floating during the process.

According to the earthsky.org astronomical site, it should be possible to view the tassels on a bright night 'with a good pair of binoculars'.

They said that as the bag lost its altitude, it should have come between two and four minutes earlier than the ISS.

The mission control joked that the bag should have been equipped with Apple's AirTag tracking device so that it could be found in the next orbit by the crew.

If the bag is similar to the bag lost in 2008 by astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, the replacement fee could amount to more than 82,000 pounds (Rp1.5 billion).

He lost his bag while cleaning a leaking fat pistol while working on one of Endeavor's re-ailical solar panels.

Some amateur astronomers even held 'tool-watching parties' to follow the bag while orbiting Earth for months.