Mysterious Missile Launch Seen From Space Station

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Last night, ESA/Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano posted some bizarre photos via his Twitter account from the International Space Station. A mystery rocket contrail could be seen rising above the Earths twilight horizon.

This oddity was all the more strange as there were no scheduled launches by NASA (due to the government shutdown) or from any U.S. commercial spaceflight company. Russia and Europe also had no scheduled launches at that time. Still, something had been fired into space.

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One photograph shows the wiggly trail of a white contrail exhaust and water vapor created by a rockets passage through the atmosphere; odd pattern forming after being buffeted by high altitude winds. Then, in another dramatic snapshot, Parmitano posted a weird-looking cloud dominating the photograph caused by the rocket disintegrating over the Earth (pictured top).

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, who is also working on the station, also tweeted his view of the cloud, saying, Saw something launch into space today. Not sure what it was but the cloud it left behind was pretty amazing.

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Seeing an unannounced rocket launch out of the window would have likely been pretty unnerving for the crew. So what was that ULO (Unidentified Launching Object)?

After doing some digging, Nancy Atkinson over at Universe Today found the answer, courtesy of the Russian Forces blog:

The Strategic Rocket Forces carried out a successful test launch of a Topol/SS-25 missile on October 10, 2013. The missile was launched at 17:39 MSK (13:39 UTC) from Kapustin Yar to the Sary Shagan test site in Kazakhstan. According to a representative of the Rocket Forces, the test was used to confirm characteristics of the Topol missile, to test the systems of the Sary Shagan test site, and to test new combat payload for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Topol missile is a new addition to Russias military, the first intercontinental ballistic missile to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, are used as nuclear weapon delivery systems, capable of being launched into space and delivering their payloads thousands of miles away. The 52 ton (at launch) missile has an operational range of 11,000 kilometers (6,800 miles).

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Mysterious Missile Launch Seen From Space Station

NASA admits mistake in banning Chinese student — but likely too late to help

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Misapplication of a federal law meant to stem the theft of American technological know-how has likely made it impossible for several Chinese scientists to attend a NASA astronomy conference -- a ban criticized by Chinese officials and the law's author.

One of those banned is Yale University post-doctoral student Ji Wang, who had planned to present data from the now-defunct Kepler spacecraft at the event. NASA head Charlie Bolden admitted the agency had made a mistake on Thursday, a change of heart likely too late to help, said Alan P. Boss, a member of the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-chair of the conference.

"The efforts of NASA's Ames Research Center to ensure that our Chinese astronomer colleagues will be able to attend the Second Kepler Science Conference have been halted by the fact these approvals must be entered into a computer system at NASA HQ in Washington DC," Boss told FoxNews.com.

"Because of the ongoing federal government shutdown, there is no one at NASA HQ who can complete the approval process."

"The ability of scientists to attend an open scientific meeting about the spectacular results produced by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is another likely fatality of the failure of the U.S. Congress to enact a federal budget for FY2014," Boss added.

In a Thursday e-mail to NASA staff seen by FoxNews.com, space agency chief Charlie Bolden blamed "mid-level managers" and said his office was looking to correct the mistake.

"In performing the due diligence they believed appropriate following a period of significant concern and scrutiny from Congress about our foreign access to NASA facilities, meetings and websites, [they] acted without consulting NASA HQ," Bolden wrote.

- NASA's Charlie Bolden

"Upon learning of this exclusion, I directed that we review the requests for attendance from scientists of Chinese origin and determine if we can recontact them immediately upon the reopening of the government to allow them to reapply."

The ban had been widely denounced by both Chinese officials and scientists, who initially labeled it deplorable.

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NASA admits mistake in banning Chinese student -- but likely too late to help

Nobel Medicine Prize 2013: US-based scientists Rothman, Schekman and Suedhof win Nobel award – Video

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Nobel Medicine Prize 2013: US-based scientists Rothman, Schekman and Suedhof win Nobel award
Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and German-born researcher Thomas Suedhof have won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discoveries ...

By: JewishNewsOne

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Nobel Medicine Prize 2013: US-based scientists Rothman, Schekman and Suedhof win Nobel award - Video

Quinnipiac University: Medicine’s Michelangelo: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter MD – Video

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Quinnipiac University: Medicine #39;s Michelangelo: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter MD
On September 28, 2013 Francine Netter presented the lecture Medicine #39;s Michaelangelo: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter MD.

By: QuinnipiacUniversity

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Quinnipiac University: Medicine's Michelangelo: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter MD - Video

Carl Nielsen – Rhapsody Overture, ‘An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands’ – Video

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Carl Nielsen - Rhapsody Overture, #39;An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands #39;
Rhapsody Overture #39;En fantasirejse til Faeroene #39; (An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands), FS123; it was written for a pair of concerts in which a group of f...

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Carl Nielsen - Rhapsody Overture, 'An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands' - Video