The Subaru Telescope in Hawaii caught the spectacular death spiral of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage as it falls towards Earth.
:"The video shows the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket venting left-over rocket fuel just before reentering into the atmosphere over a safe area in thesunlight and hence becomes visible as a glowing cloud."
Langbroek added that this venting of fuel remnants from the tanks is a standard procedure performed after the rocket engine does its final 'deorbit burn.' The purpose is to avoid fuel vapors from remnants of fuel in the tank exploding. He continued:"You don't want that to happen, certainly not while the rocket stage is still in space, as it can create space debris.
"Also, such an explosion could mean that fragments of the rocket stage could come down too early, not over the safe area you designated for that. That is obviously something you want to avoid.", the rocket can be seen spinning as it passes from the left-hand side of the screen to the right. As it moves, it fades and falls closer and closer to the surface of Earth.
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