NASA has revealed that the hunk of space debris that fell on a walking trail in the US belongs to a recently launched SpaceX capsule.
The debris, found near a mountain resort in North Carolina, was supposed to burn up entirely as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.
The capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station last summer and brought them back on 12 March 2024.
However, parts of capsule that were expelled while bringing the astronauts home have crashed to Earth, going against Nasa’s initial projections.
The largest piece of debris, discovered on 22 May, was about the size of a standard car hood or bonnet.
Several smaller pieces have also been found in residents’ back gardens throughout the region, according to local media reports.
The US space agency confirmed the pieces of debris are remnants of SpaceX Crew Dragon hardware that re-entered the atmosphere in May 2024.
Nasa added that more debris from the Dragon capsule had fallen over Saudi Arabia.
“SpaceX has confirmed the re-entry of Dragon spacecraft trunk hardware to Nasa following its service missions to the International Space Station,” the agency said in a statement to Western North Carolina journalist Justin Berger, who posted the response on X.
“Most recently, the trunks that supported SpaceX’s 30th commercial services resupply and Crew-7 mission re-entered over Saudi Arabia and North Carolina respectively.”
The space agency said it is currently “unaware” of any damage to buildings or injuries from these items of incoming space debris.
However, industry chiefs worldwide have voiced grave concern over the increasing number of cosmic junk that is smashing into Earth.
Too many close calls
By Millie Turner, Senior Technology & Science Reporter
At the current rate, it’s only a matter of time before we have our first casualty from man-made space objects.
No one has yet died from falling space debris, though there have been plenty of instances of infrastructure damage and even injuries.
In 2002, six-year-old boy Wu Jie became the first person to be directly injured by falling space junk, after 20 metal rocket chunks showered on his village in China.
Fast forward to June 2024, and we have a Florida family suing Nasa from $80,000 in damages after an object from the ISS pummelled through their home.
The cylindrical object crashed two-floors deep into their house earlier this year and almost hit their son.
The choppy irregularity of space launches pre-SpaceX meant Nasa could afford to rely on the chance of expended metal falling into the ocean or in an uninhabited area – if it hadn’t already burnt up.
But that won’t work for much longer.
In 2022, ‘alien like’ trunk debris from SpaceX’s Crew-1 was discovered by a farmer in Australia, New South Wales.
The trunk refers to an unpressurised section of the capsule that contains hardware for power and cooling.
Nasa stated there is another trunk currently in orbit from the Crew-8 visit to the ISS, which is expected to “return” later this summer.
It’s unclear whether it will burn up in the atmosphere or whether chunks of it will survive in the plunge back to Earth.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches and debris findings, suggests the trunk is more likely to survive re-entry that other capsule parts.
McDowell wrote on X: “The discovery of @SpaceX Dragon trunk debris from the Crew-7 mission in North Carolina, following debris from the Ax-3 trunk in Saskatchewan and from the Crew-1 trunk in Australia, makes it clear that the materials from the trunk regularly survive re-entry in large chunks.”
In its statement, Nasa admitted that its evaluations aren’t perfect and that the agency needs to improve its debris modeling.
“During it’s initial design, the Dragon spacecraft trunk was evaluated for re-entry breakup and was predicted to burn up fully, the agency wrote.
“Nasa and SpaceX will continue exploring additional solutions as we learn from the discovered debris.”
What is the ISS?
Here’s what you need to know about the International Space Station…
- The International Space Station, often abbreviated to ISS, is a large space craft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go up there to complete scientific missions
- Many countries worked together to build it and they work together to use it
- It is made up of many pieces, which astronauts had to send up individually on rockets and put together from 1998 to 2000
- Ever since the year 2000, people have lived on the ISS
- Nasa uses the station to learn about living and working in space
- It is approximately 250 miles above Earth and orbits around the planet just like a satellite
- Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, lots of science labs and a big bay window for viewing Earth
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
