9 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Any idea what this is?
Likely Firefly Alpha FLTA005 Stage 2 "passivation".
You mentioned it was flying South to North. This vehicle had launched to Sun Synchronous Orbit, which effectively flys between both poles and is visible everywhere on Earth.
Passivation is when a stage depletes it's stored energy at End-of-Mission so it reduces the risk of fragmenting and creating space debris. Likely a depletion burn and/or venting and the gas being illuminated by the setting Sun.
Comment by nealshiremanphotos at 05/07/2024 at 05:08 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Any idea how SpaceX performs passivation? I've seen a second stage flying over, doing *something*. It kind of resembled a butterfly, with jets appearing from both sides