The Australian Space Agency has visited a site in Numbla Vale in NSW to investigate space debris, believed to belong to US corporation SpaceX.
An agency spokesperson told the ABC locals should contact police if they find more debris.
“The agency is actively working to support formal identification of the objects, and is engaging with our counterparts in the US,” the spokesperson said.
Australian National University College of Science astrophysicist Brad Tucker visited the site, posting a video of the debris to social media.
The SpaceX Crew-1 Trunk space junk discovery was quite a surprise. In this video, we get up close to the site and the pieces. We also take a look how we know what these pieces are from. Enjoy!
It was super exciting to check it out!https://t.co/x2ZkUBXbnQ
— Brad Tucker (@btucker22) July 31, 2022
Tucker said he has been working with the Australian Space Agency to identify the debris.
In the video, Tucker called it an “extremely rare event”.
Monaro Police district commander superintendent John Klepczarek said it was likely the debris was from SpaceX, although would not be confirming it was until the corporation gave confirmation.
“We believe it could be associated with SpaceX but we won’t be confirming it until we actually get acknowledgement from them.
“It’s early indication from them that there could be attempts to retrieve this space junk,” Klepczarek said, as quoted in the ABC.
SpaceX was founded by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, its current CEO, who is being taken to court in the US over his attempt to back out of purchasing social media platform Twitter. Musk is also countersuing Twitter.
Recently, SpaceX launched the first all-civilian crew on a mission to the International Space Station, making it the first to do so.
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