Spaceballs!

December 23rd, 2011 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

I see this morning a news report of a metal ball falling out of the sky and landing in Namibia:

While the find seems to have baffled local authorities, it didn’t take me long to identify it as a satellite hydrazine propellant tank, made of titanium:

The size (14 inches in diameter) and weight (about 8 kg) match.

Lotsa stuff flying around in orbit these days, and eventually it all must come back down. Fortunately, most of it burns up before reaching the ground.


19 Responses to “Spaceballs!”

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  1. Nice Work Good Post