SUV-sized piece of NASA equipment falls from sky, crash lands on rural farm
An average of 200 to 400 tracked objects, also referred to as ‘space junk,’ enter Earth’s atmosphere annually.
People in a rural west Texas community got quite the surprise earlier this month when a car-sized piece of equipment landed unexpectedly on a farm.
In a Facebook post, Ann Vincent Walter says she saw a large parachute hovering above her home on October 2. She initially thought it was a weather balloon, but when she took a video and sent it to her parents, he father said it didn’t look like one and suggested she call the county sheriff’s office.
Ann says she initally thought the equipment (pictured here in the sky, prior to landing) was a weather balloon. (Facebook/Ann Vincent Walter)
“I called the Hale County sheriff’s office and explained what we saw,” Ann says in her Facebook post.
"They thanked me for informing them, [and said] a NASA team was currently trying to find and retrieve their piece of equipment.”
NASA said the equipment had blown off course. (Facebook/Ann Vincent Walter)
She was told a NASA rep would be contacting her for more information, adding that the object was a “large piece of experimental equipment attached to a parachute.”
NASA told her the equipment, which was launched from the Fort Sumner launch facility, had blown off course.
When the balloon disappeared from the sky, Ann and her family assumed it had landed somewhere. Her husband later found it on a neighbour’s farm.
Ann’s employer let her leave work so she could see the downed device. She said the NASA employees, also onsite, were friendly and educational.
“They gladly let me go so I could see the equipment and experience this once-in-a-lifetime situation,” she says.
“What a cool memory and experience.”
Ann Vincent Walter called the find a 'once-in-a-lifetime situation.' (Facebook/Ann Vincent Walter)
Ann was told the piece of equipment is used to help NASA determine if, and where, they will launch a satellite.
According to the National Environmental, Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) an average of 200 to 400 tracked objects, also referred to as ‘space junk’ enter Earth’s atmosphere annually.
Most are small objects that completely burn up upon re-entry, and those that don’t usually fall into the ocean or into unpopulated areas.