(ORDO NEWS) — Last month, Australian farmers mysteriously discovered space debris strewn across their fields. The astrophysicist who examined the debris now believes it was a SpaceX flight.
People near Dalgety, New South Wales, found three large pieces of debris, the largest of which is a 10-foot-tall triangular structure – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said they were found firmly dug into the ground.
The objects were covered in burn marks consistent with atmospheric re-entry, the ABC said.
Brad Tucker, the astrophysicist who examined the wreckage, said in a video that it was likely fragments from the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon aircraft used on the 2020 Crew-1 mission. According to Tucker, some of the fragments had serial numbers.
Scientists knew debris from the Dragon spacecraft could fall into the area around early July, and the debris “matched well” with the barrel’s flight path on July 8, astronomer Jonathan McDowell tweeted.
“Having gone there and looked at the debris myself, I have no doubt that it’s space junk,” Tucker told Space.com.
‘I’m a farmer… what am I going to tell NASA?’
Sheep farmer Mick Meiners discovered the 10-foot object in his field on July 25, he told ABC. His neighbor, Jock Wallace, also found trash in his field the week before, and people in the area also reported hearing a loud bang on July 9, ABC reported.
Wallace first reported the find to the local civil aviation safety authority, who told him to call NASA.
“I’m a Dalgety farmer, what am I going to tell NASA?” Wallace told ABC.
He also said of the wreckage, “If it lands on your house, it will make a hell of a mess.”
The Australian Space Agency and New South Wales Police are investigating the incident. objects to confirm their connection to space travel, ABC reported on Monday.
“Ultimately SpaceX, or at least the US, will have to make a statement about whether they want to keep it or bring it back or not,” Tucker said, according to ABC.
Scientists warn of space debris
The risk of space debris falling on humans is negligible, and scientists can track larger pieces of space debris from Earth to predict where they will fall.
However, scientists are sounding the alarm about space debris, saying the problem will only get worse as space travel intensifies.
The news comes as debris fired from China‘s Long March 5B rocket returned uncontrollably to Earth on Saturday.
Its landing area was mostly water and desert, making it very unlikely that it would hit populated areas. The Chinese manned space agency said most of the debris burned up on re-entry, CNN reported.
However, NASA has been critical of this approach, saying that the debris “carries a significant risk of loss of life and property.” , according to CNN.
This was the second time that China had allowed the wreckage of its huge missile to fall uncontrollably to the ground.
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