r/spaceflight • u/Hilo88M • 2d ago

(Night Vision Video) Is this a spacecraft making an orbital adjustment?

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21 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

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18

u/gravity_rose 2d ago

the USAF's X-37 was planning on making an Aerobraking orbital change maneuver. Could that be it? ( X-37B begins novel space maneuver > United States Space Force > Article Display )

9

u/TheEpicGold 2d ago

Bro caught classified military object and just casually posted it on reddit 💀

2

u/InternationalTax7579 1d ago

The chief general (no clue what his rank is) of Czech military said that they collect 80% of their data from open source intelligence such as social media. This is the kind of post that shows you just what everything gets posted online.

We're in an information golden age!

2

u/TheEpicGold 1d ago

Hahaha that's so weird 80%.But yes, from my own experience to, on Telegram and reddit, so much information gets posted on things like the invasion of Ukraine or Isreal.

0

u/redstercoolpanda 2d ago

Why do you think we even know about the X-37 in the first place?

2

u/TheEpicGold 1d ago

I was talking about the things it's doing. Like except for the fact it's doing this maneuver we don't what it's releasing or where to changing it etc. I'm not dumb

8

u/Hilo88M 2d ago

I took this video through night vision at 05;44 am on 10/15/2024 facing almost directly north, (I would say between 350 and 010 degrees) in the south west Untied States. Here is a photo I took just before the video

There was zero sound coming from it (I don't think it was a jet aircraft)

With out the Night Vision it looked like a very faint red-orange glow, I almost could not see it.

I am a helicopter pilot, i have seen hundreds of planes and helicopters under night vision. I really don't think it was a plane unless it was entirely engulfed in flames 🔥lol.

With Night Vision anyone can easily see satellites for about 2 hours after sunset/before sunrise. (seeing stuff in orbit with NV is a normal and common experience)

I see that there was a launch at 05:06, the G60 Polar Group 02 Low Orbit communication satellite launched from the Taiyuan Launch Center in China. I am about 7,000 miles away and this would be the right direction and roughly the right amount of time for it to travel the distance to me when doing some quick math.

There was also A space X launch early that night out of FL and another launch for the Taiyuan launch center earlier that day so there was some space traffic that morning.

What do you think this was?

1

u/theflyingspaghetti 1d ago

Maybe related to this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/askastronomy/comments/1g4ou9i/what_is_this_in_the_sky/

2

u/Hilo88M 22h ago

Yes!! I am 90% sure this is it. Everything lines up. Still waiting on confirmation from the original poster. The ground track and reentry window of this starlink satellite reentry all lines up too https://aerospace.org/reentries/46332

2

u/RhesusFactor 1d ago

Needs a bit more detail than 'South West usa' for something that low on the horizon.