SpaceX Crew Dragon, an Australian farmer found pieces of a spaceship on his farm

In Australia it rains garbage from Space. It happens on a farm in the mountains, where at least three debris was found , most likely produced by the re-entry into the atmosphere of one of Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX spacecraft.

According to NASA and Australian authorities, the debris found on the farm likely came from the instrumentation of a Crew Dragon , the SpaceX spacecraft designed to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. In all likelihood, it would be the vehicle that had hosted astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi a few months ago.

“Normally this debris carbonizes on impact with the atmosphere, and then ends up in the ocean without major risks to public safety”, reads a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, the US federal body which – among other things – deals with ensuring the safety of NASA space missions. The agency explained that on this occasion things went differently: the component of the spacecraft found in Australia had been ejected before the return of the Crew Dragon, causing it to remain in orbit for over a year. “Some pieces of the wreck survived the impact with the atmosphere, reaching the earth’s surface in good condition.”

G’day @elonmusk, I’m a reporter at @abcnews that’s been covering the discovery of @SpaceX debris in Australia. Just wondering, is anyone from your team coming to collect it?
Here’s a pic of one of the pieces👇 pic.twitter.com/NcJeuigQzx

— Adriane Reardon (@adrianereardon) August 3, 2022

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Episodes like this are bound to repeat themselves. With the intensification of space missions, especially those managed by private companies, they risk becoming more and more frequent. Last year, debris from a SpaceX rocket’s second stage reentry into the atmosphere was found on a Washington state farm.