The failed thein orbit around a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage late last month produced one spectacular light show over the Pacific Northwest, but the incident resulted in much of the missile crashing into a farmer’s field.
The second stage would burn down over the Pacific O.cean, far away from populated areas, just one failed deorbit combustion resulted in an uncontrolled return on March 26, 2021.
Dramatic videos shot from the ground showed chunks of glowing debris skimming through the air around 9 p.m. local time, as the top rocket component burned and disintegrated over the west coast of the United States.
The failed deorbit occurred about three weeks after the rocket’s launch, in which a Falcon 9 successfully dropped 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage managed to land on a drone ship shortly after launch from the Kennedy Space Center on March 4.
G / O Media can receive a commission
SpaceX has been weirdly silent about it. T.he Tri-City Herald now reports Which a charred part of the second stage crashed into a farm field in Washington State. The holdover appears to be a composite sheathed pressure vessel, or COPV, designed to transport liquids, such as super cold helium, under pressure.
Kyle Foreman of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office told the Tri-City Herald the tank left a dent of 10 cm in the groundSpaceX arrived on site to collect its trash after being contacted by sheriff’s office deputies.
“SpaceX recovered a composite-wrapped pressure vessel from last week’s Falcon 9 return,” tweeted the Grant County Sheriff. “He was found this week on private property in southwest Grant County. Media and Treasure Hunters: We will not disclose details. “
To which sheriff’s office added: “The property owner just wants to be left alone.”
As for what went wrong during the deorbit, “there wasn’t enough propellant after this launch to ignite the Merlin engine and complete combustion,” so the “propellant was blown into space,” resulting in the “uncontrolled reentry “. , “ Eric Berger reported in Ars Technica.
A similar event occurred in 2014 when an apparent COPV from a Falcon 9 landed in Brazil. It is fortunate that no one has ever been injured in these incidents, and fortunately that is to be special. To date, SpaceX has completed 111 launches of the Falcon 9, including 71 first-stage landings and 54 blown-back missions.