Two men with SpaceX descended on a Saskatchewan farm in a moving truck Tuesday to retrieve cosmic junk that fell earlier this year from one of its spacecrafts.
The workers, who didnB次元官网网址檛 give their names while at the farm near Ituna, lugged the large scorched pieces of carbon fibre and aluminum into the back of the U-Haul before leaving.
They declined to say why the fragments failed to burn up before slamming into the field, what spacecraft the pieces came from, where the wreckage was going and what the company plans to do with it.
They confirmed they work for SpaceX, founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, and directed further questions to a company email. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The retrieval comes months after farmer Barry Sawchuk found the debris and said he was contacted by SpaceX for its return.
One fragment, taller than Sawchuk, weighs 44 kilograms. A second, smaller one is about 10 kilograms. Other pieces were also found on neighbouring farms.
Sawchuk said SpaceX paid him an undisclosed amount of money to get the junk back, and he plans to use those dollars to help fund a new rink in the community northeast of Regina.
He said having the men show up Tuesday felt like any other day.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 no different than going to seed a crop or harvesting a good crop. ItB次元官网网址檚 all just the same thing,B次元官网网址� Sawchuk told reporters.
B次元官网网址淚 guess the one thing is itB次元官网网址檚 a little community that is on the map. LetB次元官网网址檚 hope it doesnB次元官网网址檛 happen again and somebody doesnB次元官网网址檛 get hurt.B次元官网网址�
Sawchuk, who briefly spoke with the SpaceX staff, said they told him the company wants to figure out why the debris didnB次元官网网址檛 dissolve in the atmosphere.
B次元官网网址淭hey realized there was an issue, so theyB次元官网网址檙e trying to deal with it,B次元官网网址� he said.
Samantha Lawler, an astronomy professor at the University of Regina who was at the farm to witness the retrieval, said she wanted to learn why the space junk didnB次元官网网址檛 burn up.
She said the company has thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit that are expected to re-enter Earth in batches over the next few years. There will be problems if they hit the ground, she said.
B次元官网网址淚f those re-entries make it to the ground in hundred-pound pieces of garbage, like we just saw, that (could) kill lots of people. ItB次元官网网址檚 terrifying.B次元官网网址�
Lawler added she wasnB次元官网网址檛 surprised the SpaceX workers didnB次元官网网址檛 share more details.
B次元官网网址淪paceX is so notorious for not responding to journalists, ever,B次元官网网址� she said.
Lawler previously sent photos and information about SawchukB次元官网网址檚 debris to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard who tracks space launches.
Looking at data, McDowell determined the farmerB次元官网网址檚 find was likely linked to a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that returned to Earth with four passengers from the International Space Station in February.
Debris has also been found in other locations in the United States and Australia.
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