RUSSIAN RE-ENTRY

http://spaceweather.com/
The body of a Russian rocket that propelled a Soyuz spacecraft toward the International Space Station on Dec. 21st fell back to Earth on Christmas Eve. Roman Breisch sends this picture of the re-entry from Erdweg, 20 miles west of Munich, Germany:



"This is what the Christmas star looks like in the 21st century," says Breisch. " The decaying rocket was spectacular look as it wove over the night sky from West to the East, getting brighter and brighter and splitting up into hundreds of shiny pieces."

Two videos of the re-entry are being widely viewed on Youtube: #1, #2.

Meanwhile, the three astronauts (Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and Andre Kuipers) who rode this rocket to Earth orbit are settling in comfortably on the International Space Station. Don Pettit's return to the ISS is welcomed by readers of Spaceweather.com, who look forward to new episodes of Saturday Morning Science and Pettit's trademark astrophotography.