I have no words suitable for the magnitude of destruction in Lahaina, so I’ll just share some raw images. Aug 8 just before the fires started, and Aug 17 during recovery operations. My heart goes out to those affected.
Capture confirmed! Next, the @Space_Station’s robotic Canadarm2 will attach the #CRS19 Cygnus spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory. Our live coverage will resume right here at 7:30am ET (1130 UTC). blogs.nasa.gov/ng-crs-19/
Unnamed storm brewing in the South Pacific last week. The @Space_Station provides an incredible platform for monitoring extreme weather events around the world.
Atmospheric density exponentially decays with altitude, but the decay rate at orbital altitudes depends on solar activity, making long-term predictions difficult.
One correction: I said off the cuff the orbit would decay over the coming days to weeks. It’s actually years – reentry timing has high uncertainty, but estimates center around summer 2025. Primary driver of orbital decay is drag from tiny remnants of Earth’s atmosphere.