Astronaut Loses Tool Bag On Spacewalk

But Effort To Clean Gummed-Up Solar Panel Joint Continues

(CBS/AP)  A spacewalking astronaut whose grease gun erupted in a backpack-sized tool bag accidentally let go of the tote outside the international space station Tuesday, and it floated off along with everything in it.

It was one of the largest items ever to be lost by a spacewalker, and occurred during an unprecedented attempt to clean and lubricate a gummed-up joint on a solar panel.

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 her helmet camera and gloves. In the process of wiping off her gloves, the bag slipped out of her grip, and she lost all her other tools.

"Oh, great," she mumbled.

CBS News correspondent Peter King reports the astronauts' main job Tuesday was to start work on the motor that aims the station's solar power wings toward the sun -- it has big gears -- and has been pretty much stalled for more than a year.

The joint is located near the extreme reaches of the 220-mile-high outpost. The spacewalkers had 85-foot safety tethers to keep them connected to the mother ship at all times.

Stefanyshyn-Piper was carrying out the spacewalk with Stephen Bowen. He had his own tool bag with another grease gun, putty knife and oven-like terry cloth mitts to wipe away metal grit from a clogged joint at the space station.

Mission Control agreed the spacewalk would continue as planned, and that the two astronauts would share tools. Flight controllers were assessing the impact the lost bag would have on the next three planned spacewalks.

It was the first of four spacewalks planned for space shuttle Endeavour's two-week visit to the space station; the astronauts also are making home improvements.

Earlier, the spacewalkers spotted a screw floating by, but were too far away to catch it. "I have no idea where it came from," Stefanyshyn-Piper told Mission Control.

Mission Control said the screw was not considered a serious hazard, but did not immediately elaborate on the missing tool bag. Flight controllers were tracking its location in orbit.

The lost bag marred what had been a near-flawless mission by Endeavour and its seven-member crew.

Putting her disappointment aside, Stefanyshyn-Piper - the first woman to be assigned as lead spacewalker for a shuttle flight - carried out her work on the joint with Bowen.

For more than a year, the jammed joint has been unable to automatically point the right-side solar wings toward the sun for maximum energy production. The repair work - expected from the outset to be greasy and hand-intensive - is supposed to take up much of all four spacewalks.

NASA suspects a lack of lubrication caused the massive joint to break down; grinding parts left metal shavings everywhere and prompted flight controllers to use the joint sparingly. Besides scraping and wiping away the grit and applying grease, the spacewalkers will replace the bearings.

As a precaution, extra grease will be applied on a later spacewalk to the joint on the opposite side of the space station that has allowed those solar wings to produce ample electricity.

Before tackling the joint repairs, Stefanyshyn-Piper and Bowen had to get some relatively mundane work out of the way. First on their to-do list: collecting an empty nitrogen gas tank outside the space station and hauling it back to the docked shuttle for return to Earth. Then they had to move an ammonia hose coupler from the shuttle over to the station, storing it on a giant toolbox holding other spare parts.

As the action unfolded outside, the astronauts inside the shuttle-station complex started unloading the gear inside a huge trunk that was brought up by Endeavour.

The big-ticket item - and one of the first things to be hooked up - is a recycling system that will convert astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water. It is essential if NASA is to double the size of the space station crew to six next June.

Endeavour also delivered an extra bathroom, kitchenette, two bedrooms, an exercise machine and refrigerator that will allow space station residents to enjoy cold drinks for the first time.

The additions - coming exactly 10 years after the first space station piece was launched - will transform the place into a two-bath, two-kitchen, five-bedroom home.

Endeavour arrived at the space station Sunday. The shuttle will remain docked through until at least Thanksgiving. The next spacewalk is set for Thursday.

[guadalcanal3]

MARS NEEDS WOMEN! (so do men.)

[juwboy]

Earlier, I asked why the bag had floated away from her; it should have remained in orbit at her side (according to Newtonian physics).

Now that I`ve seen the video clip, I can see that she pushed the bag out of her way while she dealt with the grease splatters.

This would have put the bag in a different orbit from the astronaut.

Never mind!!!

[usclimey]

1) If the grease gun exploded the bag would have been pushed away from her pretty quickly.
2) Orbital speed is 17,500 mph, not 75,000 still, way faster than a speeding bullet.
3) Yes, autumn987 is always like that.

[barbaraf4]

"Is autumn987 always like that?" Posted by kkcbs
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes

[cdfoxtrot5]

Only a woman would do such a thing.

[mystgreen-2009]

OK. She messed up by not having the bag tethered. She should be the first to sample the "new water".

LOOK!! It''s a bird, no its a plane, no it''s SUPER TOOL

[displeased]

Time for NASA to throw another big party!
Posted by kevinkkloste

Dude, you must live in a wild environment. You like people to throw parties for everything.

[inventagod2]

''Mission Control said the screw was not considered a serious hazard, but did not immediately elaborate on the missing tool bag. Flight controllers were tracking its location in orbit.''

We could have used these guys on 9/11...
NORAD couldn''t track three airplanes over America.

[displeased]

Is autumn987 always like that?
Posted by kkcbs

Do you mean psychotic, delusional and always posting its disorganized thinking? Yes, it is always like that.

[kkcbs]

Is autumn987 always like that?

[drputt45]

What a tool! Get a grip.

[displeased]

I bet they would make a cool meteor.

[caco58]

Billions of dollars spent and not one designer used them. Job security??

[caco58]

Use frictionless, greaseless bearings dummys. Dohhh!!!

[caco58]

Hey NASA engineers, ever hear of greaseless, frictionless bearings?? DOHH!!

[shawnp20]

Isn''t that just typical!!! Leave it to a woman to lose tools from the tool shed!!! LOL That is why men tell their wives and girlfriends EVERY day..."Stay out of the garage... and stay away from my tools!"

[barbaraf4]

karlo59

There should be no more bailouts until Paulson can give us (we the taxpayers) an accounting of how he spent the first $300 billion (I imagine he got his Christmas shopping completed early).

As for bailing out the big 3, we have paid for over-priced, unsafe cars for years in order to support the over-paid, under-educated auto workers. If they are in trouble, my vote is to let the unions bail them out. They are the ones holding the money.

[karlo59]

"gop will win" you must be as dumb as you handle. Is that why the repuglican nazis will not bail out the auto makers , but will bail out the BIG CEO''s in the insurance and banking industry, because they are unionized? There are ONLY 2 types on repugs.....the filthy rich and the totally ignorant........I guess we all know which you are, don''t we?

[barbaraf4]

"It was orbiting the Earth just like the space station and the spacewalking astronaut, so it should have stayed next to her." Posted by juwboy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your theory were accurate, there would be no need for umbilicals during spacewalks.

So now we have tools orbiting the Earth at 75,000 mph. They join the growing list of space junk in the same orbit. I consider it a miracle that there has not been a serious collision accident up there yet.