Thousand Sails Fuel Venting
Taken by Richard Rast on August 6, 2024 @
Mountainair, New Mexico
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Date Taken: 2024:08:11 17:54:27
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Details:
The Long March 6A 3rd stage from the first launch of Thousand Sails was still venting 99 minutes after Dan Bush photographed it from Missouri. On one of my originals, the tail of this artificial comet spans 70 degrees. I hesitate to call this a fuel "dump," since this implies a planned operation. Considering that at least two of these events (including Yunhai-3) have now resulted in "breakups" (explosions?), it seems likely that these are unintended fuel leaks. However, the term "venting" perhaps best describes the phenomenon without assessing intent.
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