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posted by mrpg on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the less-light-pollution dept.

Humanity Star to reach fiery doom earlier than expected

Rocket Lab's Humanity Star is expected to reach a fiery doom much earlier than expected.

The 8kg carbon fibre geodesic sphere with 65 reflective panels, which resembled a disco ball, was shot into orbit from the Mahia Peninsula on January 21 on board Rocket Lab's Electron rocket.

The launch also carried small satellites into the Earth's orbit for US companies Planet Labs and Spire Global.

It was expected the Humanity Star would be one of the brightest objects in the night sky for nine months, but satellite-tracking website Satview reported on Wednesday that it will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate at 3am on Friday.

Satview.

Previously: Rocket Lab's Electron Rocket Launched "Humanity Star", a Temporary Source of Light Pollution


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:05AM (1 child)

    by anubi (2828) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:05AM (#655980) Journal

    Kinda a disappointment... I never did see the thing.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by zocalo on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:27AM

    by zocalo (302) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:27AM (#655986)
    I did - it happened to be going overhead during a morning commute, and since the skies were clear I pulled over for a few minutes and watched it go by. Subjectively it didn't feel like it was as bright as they claimed it would be, although that may have been down to atmospheric conditions like pollution and water vapour. I'm pretty sure I've seen the ISS much brighter on a few occassions, although that may have been down to a fortunate combination of timing, angles, and the amount of light being reflected towards me by the ISS' solar panels. Ultimately, it was just another fairly bright dot moving rapidly across the sky, so while it's nice to have seen it in a geeky Train Spotter kind of way, it wasn't really all that special.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!