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Piece from SpaceX Dragon service module falls on Canadian farm

Though not yet confirmed a 90-pound piece of burned debris that crashed on a Canadian farm and found in late April appears to be a section from the trunk section of a SpaceX Dragon service module.

Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches and re-entries, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the trunk from the private Axiom Space Ax-3 mission fell over Saskatchewan on Feb. 26.

This incident, along with several others over the last few years, tells us that not everything engineers thought would burn up upon re-entry does so. A major rethinking of how objects are de-orbited could be necessary.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • Phill O

    Yah think rethinking is in order!

  • gbaikie

    How Often do Meteorites Hit the Earth?
    “Most meteorites that are found on the ground weigh less than a pound. While it may seem like these tiny pieces of rock wouldn’t do much damage, a 1-lb. (0.45 kilograms) meteorite traveling upward of 200 mph (322 km/h) can fall through the roof of a house or shatter a car windshield.
    When the Grimsby meteorite landed in Ontario, Canada in 2009, for example, it broke the windshield of an SUV. In another incident, meteorites crashed into the back end of a Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, New York, in 1992, Cooke and Moorhead said. Thankfully, no one was injured during these events.

    However, the pieces of rock falling from the sky are not even the greatest concern regarding meteor impacts, Cooke said.

    “What causes the most damage is the shock wave produced by the meteor when it breaks apart in [Earth’s] atmosphere,” Cooke said. “So, you don’t have to watch for the falling rocks — you have to worry about the shockwave.”

    The “90-pound piece of burned debris” probably didn’t have much terminal velocity, as compared to 1 lb space rock.
    And the error was not hitting ocean, but also falling trunk piece, probably has some value- or it’s manna from Heaven.
    But so do space rocks.

  • sippin_bourbon

    Phik, you may be over thinking it.

  • wayne

    Wreckage discovered on farmer’s field in Saskatchewan
    CTV News (May 10, 2024)
    https://youtu.be/8JvJsoRBL_4
    2:47

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