May 6, 2021
China’s Long March 5B rocket successfully reached orbit as planned. The core stage, however, also reached orbit, and may now be one of the largest ever to make an uncontrolled reentry back into Earth’s atmosphere.
April 29, 2021, liftoff of the Long March 5B rocket carrying the Tianhe core module for the Chinese Space Station. The core stage is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in early May. Image via CCTV/ SpaceNews.
China’s 100-foot (30-m) Long March 5B rocket successfully launched the Tianhe space station module last Thursday, April 29, 2021. That module will become the living quarters of the future Chinese Space Station. It’s currently in its correct orbit after separating from the core stage of the rocket as planned. The core stage, however, also reached orbit and is now descending again, on a path to be one of the largest-ever pieces of space debris to make an uncontrolled re-entry back into Earth’s atmosphere. It’s not yet clear exactly where or w
The first image of China s rouge Long March 5B rocket in orbit has been released by astronomers.
The Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project captured the craft, which appears like a glowing light, as it passed above the group s Elena robotic telescope.
The Chinese rocket made headlines this week when new surfaced the massive 21-ton vehicle would make an uncontrolled reentry weekend, with the possibility of landing in inhabited areas.
The rocket was moving extremely fast when it soared 435 miles above the Virtual Telescopes Project s telescope Wednesday evening, researchers said.
Gianluca Masi, an astronomer with the Virtual Telescope Project who snapped the image, stated that while the Sun was just a few degrees below the horizon, so the sky was incredibly bright: these conditions made the imaging quite extreme, but our robotic telescope succeeded in capturing this huge debris.
Photo Shows Chinese Rocket Falling Out of Orbit Before It Crashes to Earth
On 5/6/21 at 6:39 AM EDT
The Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project snapped the image on Wednesday night using a PlaneWave 17-inch telescope.
The rocket was moving extremely fast, according to the Virtual Telescope Project s founder Gianluca Masi.
The photo can be seen below. At the time, the rocket was around 700 kilometers from Earth.
A photo of the Long March 5B rocket taken by the Virtual Telescope Project.
Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project
Masi said on the project s website that the photo was captured when the Sun was just below the horizon, so the sky was incredibly bright.
La Nación / Astrónomos italianos captan al cohete chino fuera de control lanacion.com.py - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lanacion.com.py Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Why Isn t the Pink Moon Pink? Skywatchers Confused As Supermoon Looks White
On 4/27/21 at 4:35 AM EDT
Disappointed stargazers have taken to social media to complain that Monday night s pink moon was not actually pink.
Their confusion is understandable, but the term does not refer to the moon s color. The April full moon gets its name from the wildflowers of the moss pink, also called creeping phlox, which is one of the earliest flowering plants of spring in the eastern U.S.
The pink moon is listed in the
Maine Farmers Almanac, which began publishing Native American names for full moons in the 1930s, according to Gordon Johnston, a retired NASA executive who explained the name in a blog post earlier this month. The full moon in May is known as the flower moon.