A piece of space debris that fell from the sky onto an Australian paddock in New South Wales has been confirmed to have fallen from a Space X capsule.
“The (Australian space ) Agency has confirmed the debris is from a SpaceX mission and continues to engage with our counterparts in the US, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth and local authorities as appropriate,” an Australian Space Agency spokesman said.
Reports of an ethereal-looking piece of burnt debris—resembling a chainsaw—flagged on the ground in the Snowy Mountains region of Australia began circulating in the news and social media.
According to local media reports, three such pieces have been found so far in the region, which, co-incidentally happens to be the largest space debris found in Australia in 43 years.
The largest space debris to ever hit Australia was that from the 77-ton Sky Lab, America’s first space station, which tumbled down from orbit and scattered throughout western Australia in 1979.
Last Saturday, the Australian Space Agency and NSW Police reportedly inspected two pieces of debris and suspected that the junk could be a part of a Space X venture.
On Wednesday, NASA confirmed that at least one of the three pieces of debris that landed in Australia is “likely” to be a part of the Space X Dragon capsule.
Spacecrafts intentionally send large booster stages to Earth once they’re jettisoned. These pieces of Space X debris are likely to be the intentionally jettisoned parts of the capsule when it reentered Earth last May, CNN reported.
Space X confirmed to NASA that the debris might be most probably parts of the Dragon’s trunk, which provided electricity and other necessary services to the main capsule during its time in orbit.
Space X operates two types of Dragon spacecraft: the regular version, designed to ferry food, supplies, and other research materials to the International Space Station; and the other, the Crew Dragon, designed to ferry crew to the ISS.
The debris on the Australian paddocks belongs to the Space X Crew Dragon, which likely entered Earth’s atmosphere on July 9 after locals reportedly heard a loud sound and saw a streak of light in the sky.
The Crew Dragon blasted off from American soil on November 20 last year to take four NASA astronauts to the ISS.
Space junks such as these hitting Earth are not uncommon. Most space junk typically falls into the oceans and often goes untraced or unreported. But they also fall on land, and at times, amid populations.
Last weekend, the debris of an impending Chinese shuttle called the Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered the Indian Ocean at approximately 10:45 am MDT without much pre-confirmations about where it will fall exactly. According to Space.com, some pieces of the debris from the Chinese mission were traced to villages in Malaysia and Indonesia.