Got money to burn?

Too bad we can’t put parachutes or something on some of the expensive hardware we shoot off into orbit. This is the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne ATV, which I guess means automated transfer vehicle. It delivered a cargo to the International Space Station and hung around for awhile, then was jettisoned and after a couple of de-orbit burns, came down in a lot of tiny, hot pieces over the Pacific Ocean. A NASA plane followed along and got this movie.

Credit: ESA/NASA