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Space Junk Crash-Lands on Canadian Farm
Recently, a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada made an unusual discovery in his fields – an 88-pound (40 kilograms) piece of charred metal that appeared to be space debris. The farmer, Barry Sawchuk, stumbled upon the mysterious object and upon closer inspection, suspected it originated from space due to the multiple layers of burned composite fibres and webbing found on the debris, as reported by CBC.
Origin of the Space Debris
Upon receiving reports of the possible space junk, a group of astronomy professors delved into the matter, tracing the burnt fragments back to the reentry of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February. The spacecraft had undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) over the Pacific Ocean, west of Ecuador, and eventually made its way back to Earth by splashing down off the coast of Daytona, Florida. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft consists of a reusable crew capsule and an expendable trunk module, which is jettisoned before reentry through Earth’s atmosphere. It appears that the discarded trunk module from the Axiom-3 mission crew reentry is what ultimately landed on the Canadian farm.
This incident is reminiscent of a similar event back in July 2022, when another charred piece of metal suspected to be SpaceX debris ended up on farmland in Australia. As the space industry continues to expand, the risk of debris falling to Earth and potentially causing damage also increases.
Space Debris Risk
On average, between 200 to 400 man-made objects reenter Earth’s atmosphere annually, posing a potential risk to populated areas. Space agencies typically acknowledge a 1 in 10,000 probability threshold for the casualty risk of a single uncontrolled reentry, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
Earlier in April, NASA disclosed a separate incident where a piece of a pallet containing old batteries, tossed from the ISS in March 2021, crashed through a home in Florida. While NASA retrieved the cylinder-shaped debris for further analysis, it remains uncertain whether SpaceX will take similar actions due to potential liability concerns.
Resolution
Despite the potential risks associated with space debris, farmer Sawchuk remains undeterred. He intends to sell the discovered piece of space junk and use a portion of the proceeds to contribute towards the construction of a hockey rink in Saskatchewan. This unique approach demonstrates a practical way of dealing with unexpected encounters with space debris.
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