Screengrab. Twitter/@olex_scherba
Kyiv: A flash over the sky in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Wednesday sparked confusion and anxiety as local officials said it was a NASA satellite reentering the atmosphere, however the US space agency denied any involvement, reported AFP.
According to Sergiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, a “bright glow” was seen over the city about 10:00 pm (1900 GMT).
He added that an air raid alert was activated, but “air defence was not in operation.”
“According to preliminary information, this phenomenon was the result of a NASA space satellite falling to Earth,” Popko said, reported AFP.
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A NASA spokesman, however, rejected this judgement, telling AFP that the satellite was “still in orbit.”
The retired 660-pound (300-kilogram) Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft (RHESSI) will reenter the atmosphere on Wednesday, according to the US space agency.
“However, that reentry has not yet occurred — RHESSI is still in orbit. NASA and the Department of Defense continue to track RHESSI. No other NASA satellite reentered the atmosphere earlier today,” a NASA spokesman told AFP.
The RHESSI spacecraft, used to observe solar flares, was launched into low Earth orbit in 2002 and decommissioned in 2018, NASA said.
The Ukrainian Air Force also said the flash was “related to the fall of a satellite/meteorite.”
Speculation and memes abounded on Ukrainian social media after videos posted to several channels showed a powerful flash lighting up the sky over Kyiv.
“While social media is amused by flying saucer memes… please do not use the official symbol of the Air Force to create memes!” the Ukrainian Air Force said.
NASA announced in a statement on Monday that the majority of the RHESSI spacecraft would burn up when it enteres the atmosphere.
“However, some components are expected to survive reentry,” NASA said, adding that the probability of danger to anyone on Earth was negligible.
With inputs from agencies
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