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Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

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Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#131
post #130
post #49

I know what the historical present is but its use here is confusing. Just use "dropped." If the headline needs the present use "leave".

I don't understand what's confusing about saying "drop" and to me the headline makes perfect sense. What is it you dont like?

It could mean the astronauts are currently dropping the bag, which is not true. The ambiguity would be resolved by using past tense.

Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#133

Military officers, brilliant scientists, physically fit and operating in perhaps the most demanding environment we've asked of the human body... and all anyone remembers is they dropped the spanner.

Brilliant scientists and military officers aren't necessarily also savvy with tools and "shop skills".

If anything, you'd usually expect a negative association between excellence in one area and excellence in another area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkson%27s_paradox

Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#134

Planetes is real? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meAYYH-DYKc

I love that this inevitably gets mentioned on HN literally any time space debris comes up. I found out about it because of HN, and it turned out to have been very meaningful for me. I'm very grateful for that.

Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#135
post #61
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a giant swimming pool in Galveston which has a full underwater replica of the ISS for astronaut training. There are other scuba divers that work with the astronauts when they practice maintenance. One of their jobs (like the invisible waiter at a high end restaurant that makes dirty utensils go away) is to "retrieve" anything that the astronauts "put down". Often the maintenance jobs are multi-hour "space wal…

There's one in Galveston in addition to the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at JSC in Clear Lake?

You are correct! It was the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. I only visited once.

Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#136
post #101
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that much like we become able to delegate tasks like setting down a coffee cup to our subconscious on Earth, after a while in microgravity astronauts become accustomed to "setting things down" in midair. It's could be that just like in a shop on the ground, "where did I set down that wrench" is an issue; an astronaut might "set down" a tool in midair on a spacewalk and forget that they're not in a confined s…

That video is a joke. Read the description.

Ah, so it is. My apologies. He's a pretty good actor!

Re: Astronauts drop tool bag into orbit that you can see with binoculars

#138
post #93
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it's a bit light on details. But they do point out the most important facts, namely what gender the astronauts are and that it has not been officially confirmed whether the tool box contained a 10mm wrench. Personally, that's everything I needed to know about the situation.

An all-female space walk and the last time a toolbag was lost it was a woman...just saying...really plays into stereotypes of women around tools. But it was reported the male astronauts couldn't find a can opener in the kitchen drawer so even stevens!

And the time before that [0]. That doesn't matter much though, the orbit is low and the tools will burn in the atmosphere quite soon.

[0] https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronauts-lost-items-i...

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