More space junk hits Oz
April 2nd 2008 07:37
It just keeps happening,
James Stirton looking at an odd-sized piece of junk
Farmer James Stirton found what looked like a twisted ball, was discovered last year on his 40,000 hectare property, about 800 kilometers west of Brisbane Queensland Australia.
But Mr. Stirton only started inquiring into what the ball was made of, and where it had come from, in the past week.
A cattle farmer in Australia's remote northern outback had found a giant ball of twisted metal, which he believes is space junk from a rocket used to launch communications satellites.
"I know a lot of about sheep and cattle but I don't know much about satellites. But I would say it is a fuel cell off some stage of a rocket." He said the object was hollow, and covered in a carbon-fibre material. He has contacted some U.S.based aerospace companies to try to find out what the object really is.
Sydney's Powerhouse Museum spokesperson said it was not uncommon for people to find space junk in remote areas of Australia. A similar incident occurred in 1979 when large parts of the Skylab space station fell to earth near a tiny outback town in Western Australia. A local council sent NASA a ticket for littering and then United States President Jimmy Carter rang back to apologise.
Credit: REUTERS
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