An unmanned spacesuit drifting in Earth orbit is still pumping out a weak radio signal more than 10 days since astronauts tossed it from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA officials said Tuesday.

ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev hurled the Russian-built Orlan spacesuit, an expired garment packed with clothes and a radio transmitter, into a temporary orbit during a Feb. 3 spacewalk.

With the exception of one premature pronouncement of silence, the spacesuit - dubbed SuitSat by NASA officials and RadioSkaf by their Russian counterparts - continues to send out a weak signal.

"The battery that powered the suit is lasting longer than originally predicted," NASA spokesperson James Hartsfield said Tuesday during the agency's daily space station commentary.

ISS flight controllers initially hoped SuitSat would send its message - an image and greetings in five languages - and telemetry for about 10 days, allowing ham radio operators and students a chance to track the target. The spacesuit itself is expected to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere a few weeks after deployment.

The consistently weak signal may have allowed SuitSat's batter to last longer than expected, Hartsfield said.

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