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Astronaut Loses Tool Bag...in Space

by Terrence O'Brien on November 19, 2008 at 10:05 AM



It's got to be really embarrassing to be Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper right now. Piper is the astronaut who turned Tuesday's spacewalk to repair a solar panel on the International Space Station into a slapstick comedy.

After she and Steve Bowen, another astronaut, did some prep work, Piper reached into her tool bag only to find her grease gun had sprung a leak, coating everything inside in a slick layer of nastiness. Then, to add insult to injury, she was distracted while trying to clean up the mess and her tool bag floated away. As Bowen laughed at her misfortunes, he was hit with a satellite in the groin.

Ok, so we made up the part about the groin satellite, but you've got to admit that it completes this comedy of errors.

Thankfully, the two were able to share Bowen's tools and begin the repairs to the station's solar panels. NASA also said the tool bag does not pose a problem, and it has floated well clear of the space station. Of course, if it falls into the hands of an alien race who use their knowledge of our gear-greasing technology to enslave us all, NASA may just have to retract that evaluation. [From: CNN]

Tags: astronaut, humor, nasa, science, space, top

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