Suitsat-1, known informally as Mr. Smith, is released from the ISS back in February 2006.

(NASA)

One of the most bizarre satellites to orbit the Earth made for an eerie sight as Suitsat-1, a lifeless space suit equipped with batteries and a transmitter, hurtled, aimlessly, around our blue marble.

Suitsat-1 was an empty shell that was released into space during an ISS spacewalk conducted by commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev back in 2006. NASA TV’s live video feed of the spacewalk showed the still figure float away, untethered, as Tokarev dismissed his co-walker with a subtle “Goodbye, Mr. Smith”.

The inanimate Mr. Smith was an Orlan space suit, one designed during the 1960’s Soviet L-3 lunar landing program to allow cosmonauts to transfer from lunar orbiting spacecraft to lunar landing spacecraft so their space explorers could attempt to be the first to step foot on the moon.

The Orlan suit, however, was first worn during a spacewalk in December 1977 and became standard on both Salyut and Mir space stations.

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Unmanned Orlan spacesuits aboard the International Space Station.

(NASA)

The 238-pound rigid suit was pressurized to 5.8 psi of 100% oxygen and allowed astronauts or cosmonauts to conduct 7-hour extravehicular spacewalks, according to an Orlan reference guide composed by NASA.

Each suit is given a 4-year shelf life, equaling to about 12 walks before it was deemed non-operational.

The idea to turn Mr. Smith into Mr. Smith became a reality after the realization that the Russian Soyuz descent craft didn’t have the space to carry the Orlan back down to the surface, so the imaginary cosmonaut pulled the short straw and was voted to stay in space.

After deciding the suit's fate, Sergey Samburov and his group went to work on the suit, fitting it with internal batteries and set to broadcast a status signal that would help answer some unknown questions. The free roaming suit would hopefully give some insight to whether or not the suit would overheat with its cooling systems shut down, if it would be able to successfully send a signal while spinning uncontrollably or if the batteries would last longer with life support systems cut off.

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Mr. Smith was stuffed with old clothes, given three batteries, a radio transmitter and sensors to monitor temperature and battery levels and given the boot out of the ISS doors, NASA recorded. The information recorded by the suit was sent back down to Earth.

However, Mr. Smith, also called Ivan Ivanovich, was short lived as he circled the Earth. The Suitsat’s batteries were drained after just two orbits, equal to about three hours, causing Mr. Smith’s broadcasts to weaken before cutting out completely.

"Apparently, the batteries on the spacesuit have either frozen or died," said NASA commentator Rob Navias back in 2006. "SuitSat is no longer being heard by ham radio operators around the world."

The suit continued to round the globe for a few months before eventually burning up in the atmosphere over the Southern Ocean in September, ending the suit's journey.

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