 Space has a major trash problem, but sometimes, as the wreckage of humans' endeavours beyond our world come tumbling back to Earth, it can put on a bit of a show. Last night residents of Melbourne, Australia, and surrounds were treated to a spectacular sight as the burning remnants of what is thought to be a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket blazed across the night sky above the states of Victoria and Tasmania. The Australian Space Agency quickly put out a statement regarding the origins of the object, which some thought was a meteor. 'The flashes of light seen across Melbourne skies overnight were likely the remnants of a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket re-entering the Earth's atmosphere,' the agency said. 'Launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket occurred from Plesetsk Cosmodrome earlier in the evening. According to Russian authorities the launch placed a new generation 'GLONASS-K2' global navigation satellite into orbit.' The agency confirmed they had been given notice of the launch, and expected any remnants of the rocket that made it through the atmosphere to land in the ocean off the south-east coast of Tasmania, an island state off the southern coast of the mainland. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'The Australian Space Agency will continue to monitor the outcomes of this re-entry with our government partners,' it added. As well as capturing the sight on their phones, some Melbourne residents claimed they heard a sonic boom and felt their houses shake. Although travelling much slower than a meteor, the wreckage was still fast enough to break the sound barrier. Explaining the event, Flinders University associate professor Alice Gorman said: 'The second stage of the [Soyuz] rocket, which weighs 105 tonnes and is 25 metres long, was cast off at extremely high altitude after its fuel had been expended. Many Melburnians saw the rocket str){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Space has a major trash problem, but sometimes, as the wreckage of humans’ endeavours beyond our world come tumbling back to Earth, it can put on a bit of a show.
Last night residents of Melbourne, Australia, and surrounds were treated to a spectacular sight as the burning remnants of what is thought to be a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket blazed across the night sky above the states of Victoria and Tasmania.
The Australian Space Agency quickly put out a statement regarding the origins of the object, which some thought was a meteor.
‘The flashes of light seen across Melbourne skies overnight were likely the remnants of a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere,’ the agency said.