By 
May 25th, 2024
Mystery object found in North Carolina.
Image credit: WLOS TV Staff
Perhaps yet another bit of space debris leftover has hot-footed its way onto terra firma.
This latest incident is within The Glamping Collective in Canton, a secluded mountaintop 160-acre site that features travel/leisure outdoor structures near Clyde, North Carolina.
WLOS, a local ABC-affiliated TV station in Asheville, North Carolina, reported the find last week by a grounds worker at the site. The large object is thought to be a chunk of “trunk” associated with the SpaceX Crew-7 mission – appearing to be similar to earlier clutter found in Australia and Canada.
North Carolina debris. Image credit: WLOS TV Staff
Canada debris.
Image credit: Barry Sawchuk
Canada debris.
Image credit: Barry Sawchuk
Chunks of space junk rained down in Australia, later identified as SpaceX leftovers from its Crew-1 Mission that flew in 2020-2021.
Photo courtesy: Brad Tucker
Confirmed SpaceX debris found in Australia.
Photo courtesy: Brad Tucker
Space tracker Jonathan McDowell had noted several days ago that the SpaceX Dragon “Trunk” from the Crew-7 mission re-entered the atmosphere over Birmingham, Alabama.
Given its northeast track, potential debris could have fallen in Tennessee, western Virginia and West Virginia, McDowell noted.
Re-entry path going just west of Asheville, North Carolina. Direction of flight path was to the northeast reports space tracker Jonathan McDowell.
Image credit: J. McDowell
According to WLOS TV reporting, the object in question was found along a very remote trail on the Canton property.
Viewer comments
WLOS TV reporting points out that the surface of the recovered object features burnt carbon fiber with heavy-duty pieces and plates of metal, held together by what seems to be thick bolts.
When broadcast on WLOS TV, the video report stirred up viewer comments, such as: “Fear not…Scully & Mulder are on their way,” “WeAreAllDoomed,” to “Probably fell off of a balloon” and “Marjorie Taylor Green’s Jewish Space Laser.”
Advised another comment: “100% belongs to the SpaceX Dragon Space Capsule that reentered about 4:30 in the afternoon on 5/21 over NC. Lots of Debris on radar between GA and Asheville.”
Image credit: Google Maps/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Kessler syndrome
In a twist of space debris fate, the possible SpaceX detritus fell not too far away from former NASA orbital debris expert, Donald Kessler.
Among his scientific credits, Kessler is noted for the “Kessler Syndrome” that suggests when so much human-made garbage is adrift in Earth orbit, collisions between objects may well spark a cascade of fragments that increases the likelihood of further collisions.
The purported space junk was found not too far away from Kessler’s home, “about a 30 minute drive from us,” he told Inside Outer Space.
Kessler added: “If it were from space, I’d bet there are more similar objects scattered across several miles.”
To view the WLOS TV report, go to:
Note: Special thanks to Ewan Wright, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada for calling this video to my attention.
Posted in Space News
