In a peculiar twist of events, a piece of suspected space debris that fell near an iron ore mine in the Australian desert has been connected to a recent Chinese rocket launch.
The mining team stumbled upon the debris on Saturday close to Newman, in a remote area within the Pilbara region of Western Australia, prompting an investigation by local police and transport officials.
As the inquiry progresses, Alice Gorman, an expert in space archaeology from Flinders University, has proposed a theory linking the object to a rocket named Jielong. According to her, the last launch occurred in late September, allowing this debris to float around Earth before eventually re-entering the atmosphere.
She suggests that this is likely one of many rocket fuel tanks that are jettisoned to reduce weight during the rocket’s flight process.
Gorman emphasized that the Earth is filled with discarded rocket tanks, which are designed to endure extreme temperatures during re-entry into the atmosphere.
“These are so frequent that they have a nickname—’space balls,'” she said, noting how such debris is often rediscovered years after falling. “This find is relatively uncommon, as it was located quite soon after it fell.”
Stay tuned for further updates.
