SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage has been identified as the source of a mystery vortex seen in the sky above Hawaii on Sunday.
Astronomers using the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera, part of the Subaru Telescope, saw a “flying whirlpool” above Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and called it “flying whirlpool.”
While the spinning object may seem to be whizzing through space past the Earth like a surprisingly near spiral galaxy, its beginnings are far closer to home.
As part of the NRO Launch 85 (NROL-85) mission, Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lofted a secret payload from the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit. Because of this, the spiral is really the result of the first explosion.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted up at 6:13 a.m. PT on April 17 from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. For the first time ever, an NRO satellite was launched using a previously-fired launcher that had previously carried out the NROL-87 mission.
First stage of the SpaceX rocket landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Landing Zone 4 complex five and a half minutes after separation in a perfect launch, Space.com said.
The top stage of the Falcon 9 is known as the “death spiral,” because unlike the lower stage, it is not planned to be reused. Essentially, this implies that the top stage may be permitted to fall back into the sky and burn to ashes.