A Chinese spacecraft was likely the source of green lasers seen by scientists in Hawaii last month.
The Subaru-Asahi Star Camera on Hawaii’s Big Island, Mauna Kea, recorded green laser lights in the hazy sky above Maunakea, according to a tweet sent by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on January 30.
CNET called the NASA satellite ICESAT-2/43613 “Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2” for its use of lasers in creating global elevation maps.
Researchers at NASA simulated the orbits of spacecraft with similar instruments and identified the Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite as the most likely candidate for the ACDL instrument, according to an updated statement released by officials on February 6th.
The NAOJ has thanked the team for their efforts in determining where the light came from. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused the ICESat-2 crew.
Astronomer Roy Gal from the University of Hawaii told KHON2 that the source of the rays was a Chinese satellite used to detect air pollution.
Packed with all sorts of cool tech… I believe this satellite is a piece of environmental monitoring equipment, either for use in cartography or for studying the atmosphere.
Gal said that the United States already possessed satellites with the technology to carry out this task.
Despite rising tensions between the United States and China due to spy satellites and other devices owned by the Chinese regime entering U.S. air space, resulting in the deployment of U.S. military fighter jets on multiple occasions to strike down the objects, Chinese spacecraft pose no threat to the islands or locals.
Gal assured everyone in Hawaii and beyond that, they were completely safe. The plane is constantly collecting data. This sort of accuracy is occasionally taken into consideration while creating topographical maps.
Retired Marine Corps General Ray L’Heureux has publicly opposed the use of laser weapons.
L’Heureux was skeptical that “perhaps some of the most prolific polluters on the globe,” China, would care about collecting statistics on pollution levels in the United States.
Regarding the close relationship between the United States and China, L’Heureux said, “People are a little jittery, and I feel we simply need to be a little bit more alert, careful.”