Spacewalk mirror floats away foreign media: making the latest space junk
Reference News Network reported on June 28 that foreign media said that a spacewalking astronaut added new garbage rotating around the earth on the 26th local time: when he just walked out of the International Space Station to replace the battery, he lost a small mirror.
According to the Associated Press report on June 26, Commander Chris Cassidy said that the mirror floated away at a speed of about 1 foot (about 0.3 meters) per second.
American astronauts Christopher Cassidy (left) and Robert Bunken will conduct two space walks from the International Space Station on June 26 and July 1 to replace the batteries. The picture shows the two men preparing space suits. Image source: Visual China
The U.S. Space Flight Ground Command Center said that this mirror somehow fell off Cassidy’s space suit. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said the lost mirrors pose no danger to spacewalks and space stations.
According to reports, astronauts performing spacewalks wear a wrist mirror on each sleeve to get a better view during work. This kind of mirror is only 5 inches (about 12.7 cm) long and 3 inches wide, and the mass with the fixing strap is less than 0.1 pounds (about 45 grams).
The report pointed out that Cassidy and Bob Benken, who followed him smoothly after the cabin, were to replace the last batch of old batteries in the space station. This mission requires at least 4 space walks, this is the first time.
According to NASA, once the six new lithium-ion battery packs are installed, the space station will be able to successfully pass its remaining operating life. These huge box-shaped batteries have more power and higher efficiency than the nickel-metal hydride batteries that will be replaced, so that the space station can still operate normally when it is on the night side of the earth.
The report noted that the battery replacement work began in 2017. Previous astronauts installed 18 lithium-ion battery packs, which is nearly half of the number of old battery packs that need to be replaced.
The report also said that Cassidy and Benken still need to install 6 battery packs to complete this work. This is a heavy job: each battery pack is about 1 meter in height and width, and weighs 180 kilograms.