A solitary, unmanned spacesuit floats away from the International Space Station (ISS) and is destined to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Russian-built Orlan (which means “Eagle” in Russian) suit, an expired article of space clothing crammed full of clothes and equipped with a radio transmitter, launched into a degrading orbit as part of an experiment during a recent spacewalk by the ISS Expedition 12 crew. Dubbed SuitSat by U.S. flight controllers and RadioSkaf by their Russian counterparts, the spacesuit broadcast a weak audio signal and images to ham radio operators and students back on Earth.

Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev nicknamed the spacesuit Ivan Ivanovich, though Tokarev bid it farewell with the words “Goodbye, Mr. Smith” as he hurled the human-shaped satellite into space.

The spacesuit was expected to broadcast its message and an image for several days before its batteries ran out. Early reports of its silence – just hours after deployment – turned out to be premature when radio operators later confirmed its steady, but weak signal. SuitSat was expected to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere weeks after its initial deployment, NASA officials said.

• So Long, SuitSat: Astronauts Launch Spacesuit in Second Spacewalk
• Overboard: The Suit Behind the Sat
• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 12

-- Tariq Malik

Credit: NASA/JSC.