TheMalcontent
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Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 19 APR 2023 17:00 PDT - Flash Over Kyiv Was Not RHESSI
🕑 Added 2023-04-20 00:01:23 +0000 UTCThe truth matters.
Earlier today, there was a bright flash and a streak of light over Kyiv, which for understandable reasons, created alarm in the city - figurative and literally.
Ukrainian officials are claiming the source was the NASA RHESSI satellite, which is set to enter an uncontrolled deorbit today. The 220-kilogram satellite is expected to burn up during reentry, but there is a small chance a few pieces could reach Earth's surface.
At the time of the flash in Kyiv, which looks very much like a meteor, RHESSI telemetry showed the satellite was over the Middle East and had yet to deorbit. It is expected to enter the atmosphere around 18:30 hours PST.
In our assessment, the incident over Kyiv was a meteor, and it is impossible for it to be RHESSI, regardless of what the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is saying. The videos are inconsistent with air defense, a missile attack, a drone attack, or a missile that suffered an in-flight anomaly.
Comments
I'm actually in the seesat-l mailing list and the people there know exactly when every satellite will be deorbiting days in advance. It's maybe 2 per week. If you ever wonder in the future if something is a satellite you can always ask in that group. The orbit of every satellite is known to great accuracy mostly to make sure there are no collisions. Everything bigger than about 5 inches across is tracked accurately.
