NASA’s first Orbiting Geophysics Observatory (OGO-1) had a good run in space, outlasting all its OGO successors to stay aloft for 56 years before finally falling apart in a blaze of glory as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the weekend.
Last week, skywatcher and software engineer Bill Gray shared his predictions with me that the 500 kg (1,102 pounds) satellite-turned-space-junk would start to heat up over Tahiti in the Pacific.
Data from Gray and others like NASA meteor shower expert Peter Jenniskens allowed Tahiti-based photographer Bruno Levionnois to point his camera at just the right spot at just the right time Saturday.
The resulting video, which is embedded above, is something of a rare sight. Most large pieces of space junk fall in the remote ocean without any witnesses. OGO-1 just happened to make a direct pass over Tahiti. It’s pretty remarkable to see it start to flame out and then break apart into ever smaller pieces.
It’s likely that most or all of OGO-1 was incinerated, but any little parts that did make it to the surface likely made a soft landing in the Pacific.
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