Debris from Russian space rocket seen falling to earth over Johannesburg

'Space junk' fell to Earth over Johannesburg late on Sunday night.
'Space junk' fell to Earth over Johannesburg late on Sunday night.
Image: Astronomy - ASSA Johannesburg Centre

Johannesburg residents witnessed debris believed to be from a Russian space rocket falling to earth on Sunday night.

Carmel Ives, vice-chairperson of the Astronomical Society of SA (Assa), said she spotted the “space junk” deorbiting from Midrand at 10.56pm.

Ives said it was from a Russian SL-4 rocket upper stage.

“You can tell it is space junk because of the speed at which it moves.

“It is space junk rather than a meteor as it is moving slowly, at 20,000 to 30,000km/h, and breaks up into several pieces. Meteors travel at 70,000 to 80,000km/h and appear as a single streak,” she said.

Some space junk falling to Earth over Johannesburg at 22:56 5 June 2022.

Posted by Astronomy - ASSA Johannesburg Centre on Sunday, June 5, 2022

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