Image: NASA
This past Friday, Elon's SpaceX launched a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission, although successful, had some 'exciting' and possible out-of-this-world moments with two unknown objects.
The first encounter occurred during the separation phase between the Dragon capsule and the Falcon 9 rocket. Shortly after reaching orbit, the onboard cameras captured a mysterious, tumbling object dangerously crossing the path between the capsule and the last stage of the rocket. The unidentified body came so close to the craft, that spaceX officials are classifying the incident as a 'near miss.'
The second close encounter was the most dramatic and harrowing of the two, however. Seven hours into the flight, the crew received communication that the Dragon capsule was "on course for a possible conjunction" with another UFO in less than "twenty minutes." As the menacing object neared, the astronauts were instructed to don their spacesuits, visors, and helmets; and essentially brace for impact. It is at this time that the live feed went black - possibly to prevent the general public from watching yet another Challenger or Columbia type of disaster.
After an extensive investigation, federal authorities concluded that the second collision event was a false alarm due to a reporting error, said Space Command spokeswoman Lt Colonel Erin Dick: "After further analysis, the 18th Space Control Squadron quickly determined there was no conjunction threat, all aboard are safe and the spacecraft was not at risk.''