(Newser)
– Last week a piece of flaming rocket debris seen across the northwest Pacific sky crashed into a farm in eastern Washington state, authorities said. After the March 25 event, a farmer discovered a piece of rocket almost intact in a private field, the Tri-City Herald reported. The 5-foot pressure tank of mass-wrapped composite material used to store helium left a nearly 4-inch dent in the ground, Grant County Sheriff’s spokesman Kyle Foreman said. No one was injured. The Seattle National Weather Service said the bright objects in the sky, which were reported on March 25, were remnants of the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which left comet-like tracks as they burned as they returned to Earth. Earth’s atmosphere.
The farmer, who authorities said they did not want to identify, suspected the debris could have come from the rocket and left a message at the sheriff’s office over the weekend, Foreman said. Deputies responded Monday and contacted SpaceX officials, the AP reports. SpaceX confirmed it was part of the rocket and has since recovered it, Foreman said. The Falcon 9 is a two-stage reusable rocket designed by SpaceX to carry people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond, according to the SpaceX website. There are said to have been 111 launches and 71 landings.
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