Space Station astronaut loses mirror during maintenance spacewalk
Astronaut Chris Cassidy in 2013.
Shamil Zhumatov / Getty Images
During routine maintenance of the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy accidentally added it Space junk already floating around our planet.
When Cassidy replaced a large 194-kilogram battery on the outside of the International Space Station, a small mirror on his spacesuit broke off and floated away, CNN reported on Friday.
Such mirrors are attached to the wrist so that astronauts can see electrical components on a space suit and detect any blind spots that may occur. The mirrors measure 5 x 3 inches (7 x 12 centimeters) and weigh one tenth of a pound (50 grams).
Aside from the mirror accident, Cassidy and his NASA astronaut Robert Behnken “have completed all of the planned work on their first of four spacewalks to replace batteries that power the space station’s solar panels, as well as initial tasks originally planned for the second planned spacewalk were planned for next Wednesday, “said NASA in a blog post on Friday.
The two astronauts replaced the existing nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries. The new batteries store energy generated by the station’s solar systems to power the zero gravity laboratory when the station is not in the sunlight.
The spacewalk on Friday lasted 6 hours and 7 minutes. Cassidy and Behnken are scheduled to complete additional tasks on July 1 on a second spacewalk.
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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