There are a lot of things we have to worry about nowadays that we never really would think about a few decades ago. Endless spam texts are trying to steal our identities. Snakes are popping up in random boxes of bananas. And now we have SpaceX rocket debris falling from outer space.
People in Poland, along with Ukraine, were in for quite the shock when random objects were legitimately falling out of the sky. No, this wasn’t a bird or a plane, but rather pieces of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket making landfall. These weren’t little nuts and bolts, either. Images show various parts that crashed, including a charred tank that was a little bigger than 3.5 feet long.
SpaceX Debris Crashes in Poland. This Trend is a Major Concern.
Fortunately, none of the discovered debris caused any injuries. It sounds like a lot of the pieces landed in yards and open areas, according to The BBC. While Poland and Ukraine were where these objects emerged, the actual crash was able to be seen across multiple countries, including England and Denmark.
Whenever these space launches take place, debris is typically burned up before it ever passes the Earth’s atmosphere. However, as more and more of these creations by Elon Musk go up into orbit, there’s a greater chance of larger items like we saw in Poland becoming a byproduct.
Dr. Jonathan McDowell of Harvard University told the outlet that “we’ve been lucky” that none of these large objects have caused serious damage, but that the threat of it is only increasing and “the more likely it is that our luck will run out.”
So now we should be doing a bit more of looking up into the sky while we’re out and about. Fun!
SpaceX has recently become a major culprit in leaving debris behind that makes landfall. McDowell said this is the fourth incident he’s seen in recent memory “which is causing concern.” That has to do with the increased number of launches we’re sending up into space and the increased chances of engine failures.
In January, the Caribbean saw debris scattered over Turks and Caicos. The same occurred in Kenya in December, that particular one saw a 1,000-pound object make landfall. SpaceX has yet to comment on the Poland crash, and from past incidents, likely won’t make much of a big deal about this.
That being said, there’s reason to worry as McDowell alluded to. All it will take is for one of these things to hit a landmark or to *gulp* result in the loss of life for this to become a larger issue.
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