Nasa astronaut takes GoPro camera on spacewalk but forgets memory card

Andrew Feustel was confused by the device’s ‘No SD’ warning

White House considering plans to privatise the International Space Station
The US spaceman is stationed on the International Space Station (ISS)
(Image credit: NASA via Getty Images)

An astronaut on the International Space Station has been left red-faced after forgetting to put an SD memory card into his camera before heading out for a spacewalk.

Spaceman Andrew Feustel contacted mission control during the six-hour excursion, which was being live-streamed through Nasa’s Twitch account, to ask for help operating his portable GoPro camera, Geek.com reports.

The Michigan-born astronaut said he was “pushing the button” on top of the camera but was getting a “No SD” message on the device’s screen.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Following a long pause, a controller back on Earth says: “I’m told that if it has the card in it, it should have a red light if it’s recording.”

A confused Feustel asks: “And if it says ‘No SD’, what does that mean?”

The mission controller responds that it indicates there is no memory card, which is needed to record footage.

“Well, let’s just forget it for now,” says Feustel, “Let’s just not worry about it.”

Aside from the technical blunder, the mission last week went without a hitch.

According to Michigan news site MLive, Feustel had been tasked with removing a faulty part of the space station and updating some of the craft’s systems.

The astronaut will get a fresh chance to capture some footage next month, when he is scheduled to take part in another spacewalk, the website adds.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.