by A large chunk of space debris discovered last month on a mountain trail in North Carolina came from a SpaceX capsule bound for the International Space Station, NASA has confirmed.
The slab of debris was discovered in late May by an employee of The Glamping Collective, a luxury mountaintop resort in Haywood County, near Asheville.
“It was a beautiful thing,” said Justin Clontz, who does grounds maintenance for the collective and found the slab.
Now, NASA says, the roughly 3-foot piece came from the “trunk” or service module of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that carried four astronauts home to Earth from the International Space Station on March 12.
The trunk is at the bottom of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, under where the astronauts sit, and is usually used to carry cargo. It is covered in solar panels that provide power “during flight and on station,” according to the SpaceX website.
That part of the vehicle is launched shortly before the capsule re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA said the trunk was expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, but its discovery, along with many others, suggests that parts of the vehicle are able to survive the fiery journey.
SpaceX did not immediately return a request for comment.
The piece Clontz found was charred and covered with carbon fiber weaving. It weighs about 90 pounds — too awkward and too big for one person to carry — and he said he wasn’t sure at first if it was safe to touch.
“It’s just something you don’t normally see,” Clontz said. “I’ve seen spaceships and things on TV, but the average person doesn’t get to see it up close.”
Several small pieces of debris were also found in two yards of residents in nearby towns, according to local news reports.
In its statement, NASA said it was “not aware of any structural damage or injuries resulting from these results.”
NASA said the debris came from SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission, which was launched into space on August 26, 2023, and returned there after a six-month trip to the space station.
Last month, a piece of suspected trunk debris from a separate SpaceX mission was found in a farmer’s field in Saskatchewan, Canada, according to NASA.
An unmanned SpaceX mission to deliver supplies to the space station resulted in debris falling over Saudi Arabia, the agency said.
Debris from the Crew Dragon trunk also landed in Colorado last year, and a similar incident occurred in 2022 in Australia, NASA said.
A 1.6-pound piece of metal space debris — though not from a SpaceX vehicle — tore through a home in Naples, Florida, in March. It came from a cargo pallet intentionally dropped from the International Space Station.
The Florida family that owns the house is suing NASA over the damage, and alleges the incident also caused them emotional stress.
In response to questions about that lawsuit, Jimi Russell, public affairs officer for NASA space operations, said in an email that “it would not be appropriate for NASA to comment on a pending claim.”
It’s common for space agencies and companies to let unusual hardware burn up in the atmosphere, but occasionally some pieces of the re-entry survive. Although space debris rarely falls over populated areas, since most of the planet is covered in ocean, the recent events raise questions about whether that risk could grow as space launches become more frequent.
NASA said that if people come across suspicious SpaceX debris, they can contact the company’s debris hotline (1-866-623-0234 or recovery@spacex.com).
The Crew Dragon capsule – with its attached trunk – is currently parked at the International Space Station. NASA said the spacecraft is expected to return to Earth with its crew later this summer.
The agency said it plans to work with SpaceX to “explore additional solutions as we learn from the debris found.”
“NASA and SpaceX remain committed to protecting the public, astronauts, and ground crews,” the agency said.
Clontz said the space debris is now on display at The Glamping Collective behind a glass case. So far, neither SpaceX nor NASA have asked to receive it, he said.
“Every time I go to see him, I think how cool he is,” Clontz said. “It’s amazing to think that it launched from Florida, went to outer space and came back down and a piece of it flew out over North Carolina.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
