Live in the Pacific Northwest and see weird streaks of light in the sky last night? They weren’t meteor, but rather SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris falling and burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX launched a batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites on March 4th to orbit aboard a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket and its upper stage lit up the sky with bright glowing dots that streaked across the sky, which started at around 9 p.m. local time Thursday on the U.S. West Coast. Read more for two videos and additional information.
The debris was around 30-miles into the atmosphere and unlikely that any substantial pieces touched down on the ground. SpaceX’s ultimate goal is to reduce space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars, and this rocket marks the 14th piece of debris with a mass over one tone that has reentered since January 1st this year.
- Bring to life the rocket launch that took humans to the moon with the meter-high (approximately 1: 110 scale) model rocket of the NASA Apollo Saturn V
- The Saturn V rocket kit includes 3 removable rocket stages (first, s-ii second, and s-ivb third) below the launch escape system, command and service...
- After building the Saturn V rocket, you can display the spacecraft horizontally with 3 stands; The Lunar Lander docks with the command and service...
As a follow up to the debris observed earlier. Here’s some more info on atmospheric re-entry. Typical manmade objects obtain low Earth orbit at speeds around 17,500 mph. As they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, the angle must be just right. If it’s too steep, they burn up,” said National Weather Service Seattle.
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