Dutch satellite expert Marco Langbroek recently photographed the International Space Station's "lost" shield passing in the night sky using a DSLR camera. The shield, which was meant to protect the $100-billion station from space debris, was lost during a recent spacewalk by NASA astronauts. The shield is seen as a faint, thin streak, followed a minute later by the ISS.

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On March 30, when NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough ventured outside the ISS on a seven-hour spacewalk. The duo's work was to install four thermal shields on the US Tranquility module, protecting a docking port. Unfortunately, one shield was lost during the spacewalk. It, however, did not pose any immediate danger to the astronauts, who then went on to install the remaining shields on the port. The lost shield is in orbit around the Earth, at some distance in front of the Station and is visible from our planet with a pair of good binoculars.

On April 3, Marco Langbroek, from Leiden, Netherlands, caught the shield passing over the night sky using his Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera and a Samyang 1.4/85 mm lens. The size of the shield is about 1.5 x 0.6m, and is expected to drop from orbit and burn up in the atmosphere in the coming months.

According to Holger Krag, the head of the European Space Station's Space Debris Office, the shield poses very little threat to navigation. He further said that an accidental release like this is not unexpected considering the complexity and challenges of working outside during a spacewalk. However, he said, the incident puts a spotlight on the current space debris situation.

The Space Debris Office is going to host the 7th European Conference on Space Debris later this month, which is expected to be the world's largest gathering on this topic.