Instrument kit lost by astronaut spotted over Puerto Rico – Metro Puerto Rico

A bundle of instruments that accidentally escaped from two astronauts while carrying out repairs on the International Space Station passed over the island’s skies over the weekend and was captured on video.

Surprisingly, although it is not a very large object, its white color and low orbit cause it to occasionally show short reflections of sunlight that can be seen through binoculars and specialized cameras for studies of the night sky.

NASA astronauts Yasmine Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara were making improvements to the space lab’s solar panel structures on November 2, when one of them missed the block that is now orbiting Earth.

The Astronomy Authority pointed out that “several agencies monitor the objects orbiting the planet, and predictions of the exact time and area of ​​the sky in which the instrument package will pass, allowed us to take pictures of its passage over the island.” Association of the Caribbean (SAC) through a press release.

The educational authority explained that the mass looks like a faint satellite, but it shows intermittent differences in brightness, which indicates that the object is performing somersaults as it orbits around the Earth.

The instrument package is expected to orbit Earth for several months, and it is estimated that it will disintegrate through the atmosphere sometime between March and July 2024. As it gradually loses altitude, the object appears in the sky several minutes before and before the event. The space station when it is visible.

Here you can watch the video shared by the Caribbean Astronomical Society: