Spacewalk mishap: Astronauts lose important piece of space station's protective shielding

New Delhi: During Thursday's spacewalk, a regular event in support of space station assembly and maintenance, an essential piece of cloth shielding needed for the ISS went astray.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who was conducting the spacewalk along with Shane Kimbrough, reported the mishap immediately to Mission Control, which was able to track the adrift cloth bundle.

NASA said it would be monitored to make sure it doesn't come back and hit the station.

It is highly unfortunate that the accident happened midway through Peggy Whitson's record-setting spacewalk, the eighth of her career, thereby making her the only spacewoman with the maximum number of spacewalks.

As per an Associated Press (AP) report, there was frustration in Whitson's voice as she spoke to Mission Control, informing them about the setback.

The piece of shielding the astronauts lost, protects against micrometeorite debris and was one of four pieces that Whitson and Kimbrough were installing over the spot left by a relocated docking port.

NASA spokesman Dan Huot said the three remaining shields were installed to cover the most vulnerable spots, the report said.

He further stated that it was not immediately clear who let the shield go or how it got away; it's supposed to be tethered to the station or spacewalker at all times.

This is not the first time spacewalkers have lost objects during a spacewalk. However, usually the items are small, like bolts. In 2008, an astronaut lost her entire tool kit during a spacewalk, the AP report recalled.

According to NASA, each fabric shield weighs 18 pounds. When unfolded, it is about 2 inches thick and measures about 5 feet by 2 feet. The entire 250-mile-high space station is protected, in some fashion, against possible debris strikes.

During last Friday's spacewalk, Kimbrough – the space station's commander and six-time spacewalker – disconnected the docking port for flight controllers in Houston, who moved it to a new and better location on Sunday. It will serve as one of two parking spots for commercial crew capsules under development by SpaceX and Boeing.

The spacewalkers hooked up vital heater cables to the docking port and removed a cover from the top. Then they turned to the shields, and that's when one of the folded coverings got away, the report further added.

Mission Control instructed the astronauts to retrieve the cloth cover just removed from the docking port, and try to fashion it over the gaping hole left by the lost shield.