Many residents of Southern Utah looked toward the Western horizon line as a streak of smoke stretched across the sky. As for many strange aerial phenomena these days, you can thank Elon Musk of SpaceX. 

The space transportation and aerospace manufacturer launched the Falcon-9 rocket with 22 Starlink satellites in tow. 

The March 18 launch in Southern California is what caused the streak of smoke in the sky, and due to the rocket breaking out of Earth’s atmosphere, a lot of people across the Western United States. 

SpaceX continues to push forward with space travel related projects with many more launches planned. 

If you’ve ever seen a string of lights in the night sky, just remember it’s Starlink, but what exactly is the point of Starlink? 

The end goal of launching these satellites into orbit is to provide internet on a global scale. Meaning, bringing a greater level of connectivity to well established countries, and breaking new ground in underdeveloped countries that have never had a signal. 

This is an actual internet service that you can subscribe to, and has a pretty positive track record, but it comes with a hefty price tag. 

On top of the minimum $120 a month for service, the hardware required to use Starlink will cost you another $599. With shipping and tax, you’d have to pay about $660 for hardware alone. 

That said, these extra rocket launches are meant to improve Starlink even more, and it comes at the cost of your wallet and neighbor that keeps posting on Facebook every time they see the scary lights in the sky. 

 

LOOK: 31 breathtaking images from NASA's public library

In 2017, NASA opened the digital doors to its image and video library website, allowing the public to access more than 140,000 images, videos, and audio files. The collection provides unprecedented views of space. Stacker reviewed the collection to select 31 of the most breathtaking images, including the first from the James Webb Space Telescope. Keep reading to see these stunning images, curated with further information about the captured scenes.

Gallery Credit: Deborah Brosseau

 

Colorado Space Mission For NASA

A Colorado company has been selected to construct the first-ever rocket to return samples back from the planet Mars.

Gallery Credit: Toni Gee, TSM

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