A few days ago, the Cygnus spacecraft, which had ferried supplies to the space station, was filled with debris and released into space, later burning up in Earth’s atmosphere
during a destructive reentry. The ESA has just posted video of the release maneuver. Taking out the trash has never looked so exciting.
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst set up a camera to shoot a series of photographs while he and NASA’s Reid Wiseman operated the station’s robotic arm to manipulate the visiting cargo spacecraft into position for release. The images, spliced together into this timelapse footage, is a fitting farewell for Cygnus before its modern-day, fiery Viking funeral.
