Astronaut admits to losing mirror while on spacewalk

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy has lost his wrist mirror while floating outside the International Space Station (ISS) during the first out of four planned spacewalks to replace aging batteries in the solar power system, the United States spaceflightnow.com outlet said on Saturday.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on Saturday tweeted a cool shot showing SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

Spacewalking astronauts wear a wrist mirror on each sleeve to get better views while working.

The mirror came loose in darkness.

Mission Control said the mirror somehow became detached from Mr Cassidy's spacesuit.

The rest of the six-hour spacewalk went swimmingly.

Mr Cassidy and Bob Behnken, who followed him out without mishap, were conducting the first of at least four spacewalks to replace the last batch of old station batteries.

"I think we've done enough for one day", Behnken said.

Their second spacewalk is scheduled for next Wednesday, during which they will install one more lithium-ion battery and one more adapter plate and remove the sixth nickel-hydrogen battery that will no longer be used, said NASA. The batteries store power gathered from the station's main solar arrays and the new ones will provide an improved and more efficient power capacity for the orbiting outpost. It's cumbersome work: Each battery is about a yard (meter) tall and wide, with a mass of 400 pounds (180 kilograms).

NASA said last week it's now targeting no earlier than August 2 for the return of the Crew Dragon, along with Behnken and Hurley. Behnken and Doug Hurley made history at the end of May with SpaceX's first astronaut launch.

This was the seventh spacewalk for both men.