Days before pieces of what is believed to be a Chinese rocket fall on Earth, parts of space junk were found at a sheep farm in Australia. It is believed to be one of the pieces of a SpaceX rocket, according to a report from ABC South-East NSW.
On July 9, a bang was heard throughout the Snowy Mountains in southern New South Wales. People in Albury, Wagga Wagga, and Canberra could hear it for miles, the outlet said.
When a rocket is launched, pieces of the spacecraft frequently separate from the primary payload and fall back on Earth. When they come in contact with the planet's atmosphere, the majority of these fragments burn up. The ocean, which makes up two thirds of the Earth's surface, is where larger chunks that make it through the atmosphere are more likely to land. But sometimes they do manage to touch down the land.
There was much suspicion that it might have been brought on by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. An astrophysicist told Newsweek that the debris is likely from the trunk section of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which was launched in November 2020.
The nearly three-metre high object was found by sheep farmer Mick Miners in a remote area of his field in Numbla Vale, south of Jindabyne, Australia.
"I didn't know what to think, I had no idea what it was," Mr Miners told ABC South-East.
He summoned fellow farmer Jock Wallace in the area, who had also uncovered some unexplained debris nearby.
"I didn't hear the bang, but my daughters said it was very loud," Mr Wallace said. "I think it's a concern it's just fallen out of the sky. If it landed on your house, it would make a hell of a mess."
Mr Wallace claims that after getting in touch with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, he was instructed to get in touch with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - the American space agency.
