A Saskatchewan farmer mystified at space junk he found in his field has discovered it likely came from a Space X spacecraft.Barry Sawchuk, 66, remembers when he found the charred debris in his field on April 28 when he and his son Cody checked moisture levels near Ituna, northeast of Regina.“Not every day you go out in your field and find space junk,” Sawchuk said with a laugh in an interview with The Canadian Press from the front seat of his tractor.The material looked to Sawchuk like a burned-up piece of carbon fibre with aluminum honeycombed in between. There also appeared to be a hydraulic cylinder in the debris.“We knew it came from the sky, because it couldn’t get there by itself,” Sawchuk said.Sawchuk farms with his three sons. One of them did research and thought it must be space debris.The family did an interview with a local newspaper about the find. Then, photos of the discovery came to Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina.“That’s definitely space junk,” Lawler said.Lawler sent the photos and information about where it was found to Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. He linked the find to a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that had returned to Earth in February with four passengers from the International Space Station..McDowell posted on social media that the re-entry trajectory passed within a few kilometres of where the large object was found in the field..Lawler told CTV News: "The ground track goes right through Saskatchewan so exactly where debris will hit the ground is fairly unpredictable, because you don't know where pieces will fall off and the exact atmospheric turbulence and everything can have. The line goes right through Ituna."The astronomer said the SpaceX Dragon is a capsule used to send people to the space station. Its trunk, an unpressurized cargo space, is attached to the capsule and powers the flight while it’s on the station. The trunk is ejected before the ship enters the atmosphere, where it’s expected to burn up.That burn-up isn't a given. Chunks of debris were found on farmland in Australia in 2022. The Australian Space Agency confirmed at the time that it was from a SpaceX mission. Space debris was also found on a farm in Washington State in 2021.Lawler believes more junk will make its way to earth as private companies boost business in space. Every single rocket leaves materials in orbit. SpaceX alone has a constellation of more than 5,000 satellites.“I’ve been yelling about this for five years, and now a piece of junk fell an hour away from my house,” Lawler told Canadian Press.“That’s crazy. It’s literally hitting close to home.”The Transportation and Safety Board of Canada confirmed to the Canadian Press there were no reports of aircraft that could explain the object. The Canadian Space Agency told CTV News it was looking into the matter.As for Barry Sawchuk, he's focused on seeding.“We grow grain,” he said. “That’s what we do.”
A Saskatchewan farmer mystified at space junk he found in his field has discovered it likely came from a Space X spacecraft.Barry Sawchuk, 66, remembers when he found the charred debris in his field on April 28 when he and his son Cody checked moisture levels near Ituna, northeast of Regina.“Not every day you go out in your field and find space junk,” Sawchuk said with a laugh in an interview with The Canadian Press from the front seat of his tractor.The material looked to Sawchuk like a burned-up piece of carbon fibre with aluminum honeycombed in between. There also appeared to be a hydraulic cylinder in the debris.“We knew it came from the sky, because it couldn’t get there by itself,” Sawchuk said.Sawchuk farms with his three sons. One of them did research and thought it must be space debris.The family did an interview with a local newspaper about the find. Then, photos of the discovery came to Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina.“That’s definitely space junk,” Lawler said.Lawler sent the photos and information about where it was found to Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. He linked the find to a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that had returned to Earth in February with four passengers from the International Space Station..McDowell posted on social media that the re-entry trajectory passed within a few kilometres of where the large object was found in the field..Lawler told CTV News: "The ground track goes right through Saskatchewan so exactly where debris will hit the ground is fairly unpredictable, because you don't know where pieces will fall off and the exact atmospheric turbulence and everything can have. The line goes right through Ituna."The astronomer said the SpaceX Dragon is a capsule used to send people to the space station. Its trunk, an unpressurized cargo space, is attached to the capsule and powers the flight while it’s on the station. The trunk is ejected before the ship enters the atmosphere, where it’s expected to burn up.That burn-up isn't a given. Chunks of debris were found on farmland in Australia in 2022. The Australian Space Agency confirmed at the time that it was from a SpaceX mission. Space debris was also found on a farm in Washington State in 2021.Lawler believes more junk will make its way to earth as private companies boost business in space. Every single rocket leaves materials in orbit. SpaceX alone has a constellation of more than 5,000 satellites.“I’ve been yelling about this for five years, and now a piece of junk fell an hour away from my house,” Lawler told Canadian Press.“That’s crazy. It’s literally hitting close to home.”The Transportation and Safety Board of Canada confirmed to the Canadian Press there were no reports of aircraft that could explain the object. The Canadian Space Agency told CTV News it was looking into the matter.As for Barry Sawchuk, he's focused on seeding.“We grow grain,” he said. “That’s what we do.”
