Real, Actual “Space Balls” Found on Queensland Beaches

The Australian Space Agency says objects are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere.

WIth God as our witness, Mel Brooks had nothing to do with these.

What you’re looking at is an honest-to-goodness “space ball”. Six of these things were found by the public washed ashore in the Forrest Beach area, north of Townsville, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and were suspected of containing hazardous chemicals (not a bad guess—many of the substances used aboard launch vehicles are toxic).

The Australian Space Agency has said the six so-called “space balls” found in north Queensland were likely from a “foreign rocket body” that had recently re-entered the atmosphere after being in orbit. One expert said the objects were likely pressurised tanks for rocket fuel, and are one of the most common types of space debris to fall to Earth after a rocket launch.

Police and fire authorities examined the debris and enforced 50 meter perimeters around the objects over the weekend.

In a statements, the ASA said that the objects’ location and characteristics are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere from orbit, and that they were “continuing to engage with international authorities to formally confirm the launch vehicle and launching state.”

In short, they’re very certain they’re from a launch vehicle. They just don’t know whose.

Associate Prof Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist and space junk expert at Flinders University, said space debris that falls back to Earth can be governed by the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, to which Australia is a signatory. “It’s the most widely accepted space treaty where the launching state retains ownership of the launch material. This means the nation that launched them owns those pressure vessels,” she said. “Australia then has to enter into negotiations with the launching state. The launching state will say if they want them back or not.”

Gorman explained that pressure vessels like the ones discovered were used to store fuel before being sent into the rocket engine itself. They are made of titanium alloy and can survive at very high temperatures. The fact they survived did not necessarily indicate anything had gone wrong in a rocket launch.

This isn’t the first time Australia has been on the receiving end of space debris. When Nasa’s first space station, Skylab, fell to Earth over Western Australia in 1979 – causing sonic booms heard on the ground as it re-entered the atmosphere – fuel tanks survived the re-entry.

The space agency said Queensland authorities had determined the objects were safe, but warned that further debris may be found, and that it isn’t safe to move or collect space debris on your own, and to assume that it’s hazardous until you’re told otherwise. Contacting emergency services and keeping a safe distance are your best moves.

Actually being struck by falling space debris is exceedingly rare. Prof. Gorman said that only one person had ever been struck by falling space debris. Lottie Williams was unhurt after being hit on the shoulder by a piece of fibreglass while walking in a park in Tulsa in 1997. The object was part of a US-made Delta II rocket.