A chunk of charred space junk that was discovered hanging from a paddock of the Australian shepherd was found as belonging to one of Musk’s SpaceX missions by officials on Thursday.
The beautiful-looking, ethereal-looking piece of debris believed to have crashed to Earth on the 9th of July was discovered last week at Dalgety -an isolated area in Sydney’s Snowy Mountains, about five hours driving southwest of Sydney.
“It was kind of exciting and weird all in the same way,” astrophysicist Brad Tucker, who visited the site after farmers from the area contacted him earlier in the month, said to AFP.
He explained that the huge chunk of metal embedded in a field that was empty made him think of something out of the sci-fi movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”.
“It’s astounding to see it.”
Australia’s space agency has confirmed the debris came out of one Musk’s mission in a statement, and advised residents to report any new findings to SpaceX.
“The 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.
Tucker claimed the piece came from a trunk that was jettisoned by the Crew-1 spacecraft after it returned to Earth’s atmosphere in 2021.
The trunk was separated upon re-entry, and there were reports of junk found in space on nearby properties, which makes further discoveries related with the SpaceX missions likely.
The majority of space debris is tossed down at sea, but due to the growth of space-related industries across the globe the amount of space debris that crashes to earth could rise, he said.
“We do have to realize that there is a likely risk it may hit in a populated area once and what that means.”
The Australian Space Agency said it was trying to reduce debris and has addressed the issue at a global level.
