Photos show large chunks of a suspected SpaceX rocket that landed on a sheep farm

Images show huge chunks of space debris, believed to be from a SpaceX rocket that crashed on Earth and landed on sheep farms in Australia.

Sheep farmer Mick Miners first came across a strange, charred object on July 25 at his ranch south of Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.

“I didn’t know what to think, I had no idea what it was,” Miners told ABC Australia at the time.

Another piece was also discovered by his neighbor Jock Wallace.

Now someone else has come forward to ABC Australia after finding another piece of junk in Moonbah on July 14.

The space debris is believed to be linked to a sonic boom heard in the area on July 9. People also saw a bright streak of light in the sky at the same time.

When a rocket is launched, parts of the vehicle detach from the main payload and fall back to earth. Most of these pieces burn up when they hit the atmosphere, but some large pieces may remain intact. These pieces usually end up in the ocean, which makes up two-thirds of the Earth’s surface. But occasionally they can hit land.

space junk
A picture shows the space junk found in the snowy mountains. A few days before the discovery of the first piece, a loud bang was heard.
Brad Tucker

A piece of trash found was estimated to be about 9.8 feet long, ABC Australia reported.

Brad Tucker, a Canberra-based astrophysicist and cosmologist, believes the debris originated from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Crew 1’s trunk. He visited the site of the debris to inspect it, which he recorded and posted on YouTube.

Pictures sent to news week by Tucker show the charred objects stuck in the ground. The ground appears blackened under the objects.

“At 7 a.m. Saturday, July 9 (Eastern Australia time), the SpaceX Crew-1 trunk, the depressurized lower portion of the capsule, was cataloged and tracked to reenter Australia over the southern parts of New South Wales. ‘ Tucker said news week. “At that time, people around the area heard a sonic boom as the trunk entered the atmosphere. People also saw it break apart, which is characteristic of space junk. Dalgety, [New South Wales] where the pieces were found was fairly close to the exact trajectory of that junk. After inspection, you can see burn patterns, and the composition is that of space equipment. The matched parts can also be roughly matched to pictures and parts of the trunk.

space junk
A picture shows the space junk found in the snowy mountains. An expert believes it came from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Brad Tucker

news week has reached out to SpaceX for comment, but the spacecraft technology company founded by Elon Musk has not yet commented on the finds or confirmed that it is the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Tucker told ABC Australia that “at some point SpaceX or at least the US” will have to make a “statement on whether they want to keep it or give it back.”

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched in 2020.

These pieces of space junk are an extremely rare find. According to NASA, the chance of debris hitting a populated area is extremely low. NASA has estimated that the chance of someone being hit by debris is about 1 in 3,200.

space junk
A picture shows the space junk found in the Snowy Mountains. An expert believes it came from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Brad Tucker

https://www.newsweek.com/photos-show-big-chunks-suspected-spacex-rocket-landed-sheep-farm-1729625 Photos show large chunks of a suspected SpaceX rocket that landed on a sheep farm

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