Experts have confirmed debris found in New South Wales is from a craft built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
People have also been warned by Australian officials to “not attempt” to handle any other debris which could be from the craft amid predictions more items “could still be found”.
Two farmers discovered what seemed to be space equipment scattered across their sheep paddocks.
The Australian Space Agency (ASA) confirmed the debris in the Snowy Mountains was from a SpaceX mission after carrying out an examination, reported ABC.
Two pieces were analysed while experts are also aware of a third object being found in the region.
ASA said it had “confirmed the debris is from a SpaceX mission and continues to engage with our counterparts in the US” along with other authorities “as appropriate”.
A spokesperson added: “The agency is operating under the Australian Government Space Re-entry Debris Plan which outlines roles and responsibilities for key Australian government agencies and committees in supporting the response to space re-entry debris.
“If the community spots any further suspected debris they should not attempt to handle it or retrieve it.”
People have been told to contact a SpaceX debris hotline or email recovery@spacex.com.
Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, told Sky News before confirmation from ASA how he believed the debris was from a SpaceX capsule.
“After inspection, you can see scorching patterns,” said Dr Tucker, who added that the object’s “composition matches that of space equipment”.
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