During rocket launches, unburned debris from spacecraft is designed to be discarded as the vehicle enters outer space. Although these objects are not projected to drop on land features or inhabited areas, falling debris can still pose a danger and potential risk to aircraft, ships, fishing boats, and other vessels passing through the drop zone.
Space Debris Fundraiser
In the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, a local farmer named Barry Sawchuk is used to removing weeds and rocks from his fields. While he and his oldest son were driving around to check the farm, they discovered a 7-foot (2-meter) vast heap of twisted, burnt metal weighing 88 pounds (40 kilograms). When they came across the object, they initially thought it was garbage.
However, they noticed several layers of charred composite fibers and webbing, which made them suspect that it was, in fact, space debris. Sawchuk plans to bring his new treasure once the spring seedling is done on his farm. In the town of Ituna in Saskatchewan, the locals are in the process of building a hockey rink. Sawchuk plans to sell the space debris and donate the proceeds to the rink's construction.
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Remnants of a Space Launch
A team of astronomy professors heard about the incident and decided to investigate the mysterious object. After agreeing that it was, in fact, space debris, they attempted to find out where it came from.
Based on the date and location of the crash, they linked it to a rocket from aeronautics company SpaceX, which was launched back in February. Meanwhile, Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell suggested that the discovery was connected to a Dragon spacecraft that returned four crew from the International Space Station.
So far, no one from SpaceX or the Canadian Space Agency has commented. The company has also not come to claim the debris from the farmer.
According to University of Regina astronomy professor Samantha Lawler, large chunks of metal from metal have recently been discovered in Washington state and Australia. Another one also smashed through the roof of a house in Florida.
Lawler noted that space launches and re-entries have currently become a daily occurrence, so the threat of severe damage or death also increases rapidly. If the object that landed on a Saskatchewan rural farm dropped at the center of Regina or New York City, it could have easily killed someone.
Some countries agreed on space debris rules, but they were written before private companies joined the space race. Because of this, Lawler believes that better policies must be planned and implemented. She also added that the aggregate effects of these satellites and vehicle re-entries must be considered more carefully.
Many of the debris from rocket launches burns up during reentry into the atmosphere of the Earth, but they can also survive the trip and hit the ground. Statistically, space debris is most likely to drop in an ocean, but it can also fall on inhabited places every once in a while.
In 2022, a sheep farmer in New South Wales, Australia, discovered a jettisoned piece belonging to a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Last month, NASA also reported a piece of the International Space Station that crashed through the roof of a residential home in Naples, Florida.
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