A strange piece of space junk is headed toward Earth…WTF. Excuse my French, but that’s actually its name. Well, WT1190F to be exact.
This piece of space junk isn’t exactly new. It was first discovered in 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey. While it still remains mysterious, we do know some things about it.
Based on its movements and density, it’s too low to be a space rock, but more likely a hollow shell. This means the object was probably manmade, so the European Space Agency is guessing it could be anything from a piece of rocket stage or paneling shed by a recent Moon mission, or, what I’m hoping, debris that dates back to the Apollo era.
It’s only about three to five feet wide, so most of junk will burn up before it can even collide and cause any damage, so no need to take cover.
Whatever is left will fall into the ocean about 100 km off the southern coast of Sri Lanka On November 13th.
The space junk will be bright enough to light up the noon sky, so grab a front row seat, this should make for an exciting show.
If scientists really do figure out that this thing was made by us and launched into space only to get separated and lost for several years, it will be the first time our own space trash is returning home.
But perhaps the biggest mystery, does anyone else think it’s a coincidence this lost piece of space junk is coming back to haunt us on Friday the 13th?
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense