Rocket Lab, a commercial satellite company, recently launched an electron rocket that carried several things including a three-foot-wide humanity star made of carbon fibre into orbit. This glittering star can be seen with a naked eye. It also looks like a disco ball that reflects light.
Rocket Lab is a US based company and its headquarters are located in Los Angeles. The electron rocket was started from a farm located in a distant place called the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand last week.
The company disclosed yesterday that the rocket was loaded with three other satellites including the disco ball which was secretly kept in the rocket’s cargo.
The humanity star has 65 shiny panels that will reflect sunlight around the earth while orbiting in the space. According to Rocket Lab, it could be one of the shiniest stars in the sky. In the interval of every 90 minutes, it will circle around the earth
This video is uploaded by Rocket Lab
Peter Beck is CEO of Rocket Lab Company. His longing for the humanity star is very high. It can be seen in an emailed statement:
“No matter where you are in the world, or what is happening in your life, everyone will be able to see the Humanity Star in the night sky. My hope is that all those looking up at it will look past it to the vast expanse of the universe and think a little differently about their lives, actions and what is important for humanity.”
Richard Easther, a physics professor at University of Auckland, wrote on Twitter:
Worrying that Rocket Lab’s “humanity star” will not be bright enough to be truly stunning but plenty bright enough to annoy astronomers and people who dislike cheesy stunts. (But peak brightness depends on spin rate, so YMMV on the first)
The best view of humanity star can be seen in March and that’s why astronomers are suggested to fix your eyes on the space in the month of March to grab best scene of glitter ball.
There is a website named thehumanitystar.com which can help you know the location of the satellite. To know the Satellite location is important so that you could reach the place at right time to grab the view of glitter ball. The object may not pass above the location where you live and you may need to wait for some days.
Source:
http://www.newsweek.com/humanity-star-rocket-lab-disco-ball-790505
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rocket-lab-complete-first-successful-rocket-launch-test-flight-180967941/