Residents of Hawaii were left in awe after a mysterious spiral flew across the night sky on Sunday, December 20th. The source of this phenomenon has now been revealed to be SpaceX's launch of its latest satellite mission.
The strange sight was captured by multiple people who observed the bright light slowly ascending and then curving into an impressive circular pattern. Many onlookers speculated that it could have been caused by alien activity or other unknown astronomical events.
Pixabay/Pexels | A lot of people captured SpaceX’s satellite mission
Elon Musk is an American entrepreneur and engineer who has played a key role in the development of many innovative technologies. He is best known for his co-founding of PayPal, Tesla Inc., SolarCity, OpenAI, and The Boring Company.
In addition to that, he has been involved in numerous investments, such as SpaceX and Neuralink, which are aimed at changing our lives forever through space exploration and artificial intelligence integration within humans respectively.
The Falcon 9 Rocket
The strange occurrence has now been attributed to SpaceX’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida earlier that day. The rocket had been carrying 60 Starlink satellites into orbit and its first stage booster returned to Earth at 8:30 PM local time over the Hawaiian Islands, creating an unusual light show in the night sky.
Edvin Richardson/Pexels | The mission ended after sunset, leaving a light show for people to enjoy
What SpaceX Had to Say About It
SpaceX confirmed that the mysterious spiral was likely caused by Narrow Angle Televisor (NAT) thrusters firing on the first stage booster as it enters Earth's atmosphere. These small thrusters create a spiral pattern designed to help orientate the rocket so its aerodynamic surfaces evenly interact with air molecules while reentering Earth's atmosphere.
The Formation of the Shapes
For many people living on Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii’s Big Island, this celestial phenomenon provided a unique perspective to witness something most of us can only imagine from stories or Hollywood films.
Although some people experienced fear or confusion during the event due to a lack of knowledge about its true origin, many decided to embrace it for what it was – a beautiful example of space exploration technology interacting with our planet in an unprecedented way.
The formation of these spectacular shapes seen from Earth is dependent on several factors such as atmospheric conditions at different altitudes and the orientation of nearby clouds relative to the path of descent taken by spacecraft returning from low-Earth orbits.
In this case, all those elements worked together beautifully to create one breathtaking show for Hawaiian residents – who were lucky enough to be in just the right place at just the right time!
Jess Loiterton/Pexels | People residing in Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui got to enjoy the breathtaking view
Conclusion
Musings aside, this event serves as yet another reminder that space exploration technology is rapidly proliferating around our planet. From SpaceX’s ambitious plans for colonizing Mars and soon launching thousands more Starlink satellites into orbit every year – it’s increasingly becoming apparent how close we are getting to realizing humanity’s extraterrestrial dreams!
Hawaii has certainly earned itself a special place in history that night thanks to SpaceX – with its one-of-a-kind light show providing an unforgettable experience for many citizens across three islands!
