Less than two weeks ago, rocket remnants, measuring around 33 feet by 13 feet, from what were thought to be from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that exploded in mid-air shortly after take-off during an attempt to re-supply the International Space Station earlier this year, were discovered off of the coast of Scilly in the United Kingdom by a boat captain that was boating in the area.
It would appear that after a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, these remnants made their way over to the other side of the world. Recent confirmation has indeed pointed out that they were in fact from the Falcon 9 launch that came down due to a failed strut, and now SpaceX is doing its job to properly dispose of the rocket remnants that had been found in the water.
As BBC reports, the remnants of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that were discovered are being disassembled on scene by SpaceX officials so that they can be properly disposed of by the company that launched it into the air in the first place.
Many natives to the region are sad to see the remnants go, and some have hoped that they could stay to be placed into a museum for display for years to come. Instead, the debris, which are made of carbon fiber and metal, will be transported back to the United States where the materials will be recycled. Even the United Kingdom’s National Space Center tried their hardest to persuade SpaceX to leave it.
SpaceX notes that the remnants are nothing special, don’t contain any electronics, and that the company is simply trying to clean up after themselves in an attempt to not contribute to litter in our oceans.
"It's about being a responsible steward of our rockets after they are used," a spokesman for SpaceX said. "We don't need it for testing or analysis, it is a pretty straightforward piece of carbon fiber material. There are no electronics or anything. We are just trying to clean up after ourselves."
Source: BBC
