Matt Woods from Perth Observatory sat down with Bec and Asa during Science Section to discuss a space junk discovery, linked to a Chinese rocket launch.
There are talks of it becoming a tourism and educational piece at the site near Newman, WA.
“It looks like a pressure vessel from a Chinese Jielong rocket, which was launched last September,” began Matt.
“It managed to survive re-entry and landed and it was still on fire when they got there.”
How to Identify Space Junk
“You can have a look at the serial numbers if it survives in good condition and know exactly what it is,” said Matt, “Other times you have to do chemical testing.” In this case, the team were able to identify it pretty quickly.
Bec and Asa joked “China, come get your junk.”
Space Junk Discoveries
Matt explained that space junk does fall to earth a lot.
“Most of it does fall into the ocean, particularly the larger stuff typically fall in Point Nemo, located in the Southwest Pacific.”
Matt pointed our that with West Australia being the second largest state in the world, there is a high chance of things landing here.
The Most Common Source
Anything from normal satellites to rocket bodies can fall from space, and even meteorites, said Matt.
The majority of space debris falls in the ocean, assured Matt, which could make for very interesting future exploration.
Check out the full chat with Matt Woods below.