Huge chunk of space junk from Elon Musk’s SpaceX torpedoes in Australian farmer’s property – but it could end up being a VERY lucrative find
- A ten-foot piece of space junk lands on a farm in the Snowy Mountains, NSW
- Mick Miners found the object after his daughters heard a loud bang
- ANU space expert Brad Tucker was called in to investigate the discovery
- He said it was part of a capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew-1 spacecraft
- The large piece of junk has been floating in space since November 2020
A huge chunk of space junk from a spacecraft flown by Elon Musk’s SpaceX has torpedoed into a farmer’s property in the Snowy Mountains of NSW.
The three meter long object – part of a SpaceX Crew 1 plane – was discovered on a property south of Jindabyne impaled in the ground after farmer Mick Miners investigated a loud bang his daughters had heard.
Australian National University space expert Brad Tucker told radio host Ben Fordham he was called in to investigate the discovery.
“This is definitely space junk that was part of the SpaceX Crew-1 trunk,” he said on Ben Fordham Live Monday morning.
“SpaceX has this capsule that puts people into space, but there’s a bottom part… so when the astronauts come back, they leave the bottom part in space before the capsule lands.”
Farmer Mick Miners (pictured) discovered the huge piece of space junk stuck on his property in the Snowy Mountains south of Jindabyne
Australian National University space expert Brad Tucker confirmed it was part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew-1 (pictured).
Mr Tucker said the part has been in space since November 2020 and is beginning to deorbit.
“There was a plan to take it to Earth and intentionally smack it into Earth’s atmosphere so it would break apart and end up in the ocean,” he said.
Crowds of people across southern NSW are understood to have seen an explosion and heard the loud bang as it crashed into Mr Miners’ farm.
“We saw most of the pieces end up in the ocean, but some obviously didn’t because this 10-foot-tall piece was impaled into the ground from outer space,” Mr. Tucker said.
He said the object ended up far from Mr. Miners’ house, so it took some time to actually find it.
“From a distance it almost looks like a tree, like a burned tree, and then you get up close and you’re like, ‘Hey, that’s not right,'” Mr. Tucker said.
Mr Miners’ neighbor Jock also had a piece of space junk on his property.
“The Australian Space Agency is looking into this now because there’s actually a legal protocol in place… so technically it’s still SpaceX’s,” Mr Tucker said.
Australia’s space agency is now handling the salvage of the debris – part of a Crew 1 spacecraft (pictured) flown by Elon Musk’s SpaceX
“We’re assuming they don’t want it back because the whole point was breaking in the ocean.
“Well if SpaceX says they want it back, well then essentially they have to pay Mick and Jock to get it all back.
“However, if they can keep it, they have the option of giving it to a museum or selling it on eBay.”
Mr. Tucker said there are many people who would like to collect space debris.
“They get a small tidy sum for all the trouble they’ve been through,” he said.