The Dubai Astronomy Group (DAG) on Tuesday, Oct. 17, clarified that the blaze of light that streaked through the Dubai skies was neither a meteor nor a meteorite, but a dismembered part of a disposable Russian cargo spacecraft.
Huge comet breaking down in dubai sky @gulf_news @SkyNews @NBCNews @khaleejtimes pic.twitter.com/sbji6Z7BoP
— Aashraya Yogi (@AAhRaYa) October 16, 2017
Video Credit: Twitter.com/AAhRaYa
Space junk SL-4 R/B (42972U) was part of the Progress, a cargo spacecraft that delivers food, water, air, and other maintenance supplies to the International Space Station to sustain long space missions.
The Progress launched on Saturday, Oct. 14, from a Russian-leased Baikonur complex in Kazakhstan, and crossed UAE and Oman until it finally disintegrated over the Indian Ocean, the Seattle Times reported.
“Events like this is very common as many countries [are] now venturing [into] space, and more junks are falling [from] time to time” DAG assured in a statement.
Earlier reports claimed that the streak of light was a meteor..
“We didn’t issue a statement right away because we wanted to be certain about what was happening, if there’s any meteor expected. But it was the Progress module,” Gulf News quoted DAG CEO Hasan Ahmad Al Hariri
Source: Seattle Times, Dubai Astronomy Group, Gulf News
Photo credit: Gulf News
