Tag: WT1190F
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Airborne researchers catch up with falling space debris
Stationed aboard a Gulfstream business jet over the Indian Ocean, an international team of scientists observed a mysterious fragment of space junk falling through Earth’s atmosphere Friday years after it was discarded on a deep space mission. Astronomers saw the re-entry, which was predicted after the object’s rediscovery in early October, as a prime research…
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High-flying scientists capture mystery object WT1190F’s fiery breakup on video
An image captured from a chartered Gulfstream 450 business jet shows the fiery breakup of the space object known as WT1190F. (Credit: IAC via YouTube) Scientists flying on an instrument-laden jet captured great video views of a mysterious space object known as WT1190F as it streaked through the air and burned up over the Indian…
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Roving chunk of space junk plunging back to Earth
WT1190F on Nov. 3. Credit: Bill Ryan at Magdalena Ridge Observatory. A long-lost fragment of space debris is falling toward Earth for a searing re-entry over the Indian Ocean on Friday, but the widely-watched event poses no risk to people. Nevertheless, aviation and maritime authorities have cautioned pilots and sailors to steer clear of the…
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Mystery object WT1190F comes down over Indian Ocean but fails to make a splash
An image taken from a NASA DC-8 airplane shows the re-entry of Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft in 2010. WT1190F’s re-entry was far less spectacular because it occurred at midday local time amid cloudy weather. (Credit: Jesse Carpenter / Greg Merkes / NASA Ames file) Was it a spent Apollo rocket stage from the ’60s? A scary space…