𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥! Genevieve saw this incredible […]

𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥!
Genevieve saw this incredible 1am spectacle that streaked across the sky for over a minute. I knew it was a spacecraft, and guessed that it was a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage breaking up as it enters the atmosphere obliquely, at 17,000 MPH. Various parts break off the brightest main mass up front, and slowly separate from differential drag in the thin upper atmosphere.

At Crania in Cabo this weekend. A helpful guide to distinguish a spacecraft from a meteor: https://aerospace.org/article/what-does-reentry-look-like

Update: sure enough, it was a Falcon 9 upper stage which launched Echostar 23 back in March 2017 to GTO. It was left in an orbit of about 200x35768km, and because of drag at its lowest point, it has slowly been coming down over the past 5 years.