SpaceX space junk crashed into Australian farm

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A burnt-out chunk of space junk protruding from a paddock was found by an Australian sheep farmer on Thursday, and was confirmed to be part of one of Elon Musk's SpaceX missions by authorities.

The debris was believed to have descended to Earth on July 9 - it was detected last week in Dalgety, a small town in New South Wales, a 5-hour drive from Sydney. 

"It was kind of exciting and weird all in the same way," said Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist who made a visit to the site where the space junk was found after farmers contacted him in July, speaking to AFP. 

Tucker said that finding the large space chunk reminded him of something out of the sci-fi film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," remarking that "it's astounding to see it. Australia's space agency confirmed the debris had come from one of Musk's missions in a statement and told locals to report any further finds to SpaceX.

"The Agency has confirmed the debris is from a SpaceX mission and continues to engage with our counterparts in the US, as well as other parts of the Commonwealth and local authorities as appropriate," an Australian Space Agency spokesman said.

Tucker divulged that the junk was part of a trunk jettisoned by the Crew-1 capsule as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere last year. 

Upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, the trunk split up, causing other pieces of debris to scatter around the area. The other pieces have not been discovered yet.

Tucker noted that most space debris crash into the ocean - however, with the increase in space activity, the amount of crashing onto land is likely to increase.

"We do have to realize that there is a likely risk it may hit in a populated area once and what that means," he said. 

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