HUGE chunks of rocket debris have been uncovered in Australia which authorities say belong to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Charred bits of space junk were found scattered across a sheep farm to the shock of locals.
Charred pieces found on farm[/caption]
It’s thought that the metal scraps hurtled back to Earth on July 9 after one of SpaceX‘s recent missions.
Farmer Mick Miners of Jindabyne, New South Wales, found lumps over his land.
And locals claim they heard a loud bang across the Snowy Mountains area, which is about five hours’ drive southwest of Sydney.
Australia‘s space agency has pointed the finger at SpaceX and raised the issue internationally.
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Astrophysicist Brad Tucker, who visited the site, likened it to something out of the sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
“It was kind of exciting and weird all in the same way,” he told AFP.
“It’s astounding to see it.”
The expert said the piece was part of a trunk jettisoned by the earlier Crew-1 capsule when it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2021.
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Locals have been told to expect stumbling across more like it.
Most space debris splashes down at sea out of harm’s way but the increased interest in space makes more crashes on land a possibility.
“We do have to realise that there is a likely risk it may hit in a populated area once and what that means,” he added.
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An Australian Space Agency spokesman said: “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.”
The debris discoveries come as massive chunks of charred metal thought to be from a crashed rocket belonging to China were also found on land recently, mere metres from people’s homes.
Australia’s space agency said it the metal was from a SpaceX mission[/caption]
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