- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Some speculated that the object might belong to Chandrayaan-3, India’s latest lunar mission launched on July 14, but experts ruled it out.
By: Shubham Ghosh
S SOMNATH, the chief of India’s space agency ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has said that the giant metal dome that showed up on a shore in Australia was definitely a part of a rocket but could not confirm whether it belonged to an Indian one.
Speaking to the BBC, he said, “We can’t confirm it’s ours unless we analyse it.”
We are currently making enquiries related to this object located on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia.
The object could be from a foreign space launch vehicle and we are liaising with global counterparts who may be able to provide more information.
[More in comments] pic.twitter.com/41cRuhwzZk
— Australian Space Agency (@AusSpaceAgency) July 17, 2023
Speculation has been rife about the object since its discovery at Green Head beach, located about 250 kilometres north of Perth, over the weekend.
According to some, the object might belong to Chandrayaan-3, India’s latest lunar mission launched on July 14, but experts ruled it out fast.
It was also speculated initially that the wreckage could belong to the MH370, a plane that mysteriously went missing after taking off from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for Beijing in China in 2014 with nearly 240 people on board.
Aviation experts ruled out that theory as well saying that the item couldn’t belong to a commercial aircraft and it could be a fuel tank from a rocket that fell into the Indian Ocean at some point of time, the BBC report added.
The Australian Space Agency then said that the giant cylindrical object, which is about 2.5 metres wide and between 2.5 metres and 3 metres long, could have fallen from a “foreign space launch vehicle”.
It was also speculated that the object was a fuel tank of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which the ISRO uses regularly to launch satellites into space.
Somnath said there was “no mystery” about the object and confirmed that it belongs to some rocket but said details could only be confirmed on analysis.
The Australian authorities were yet to release more details.
The ISRO chief also said that “some of the PSLV parts are known to have fallen in the sea beyond Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone” and that the object “may have been floating for a long time and finally reached shore”, the BBC report added.
He assured that there was no danger associated with the debris that washed up.
Australian authorities, however, said that they were treating the object as “hazardous” and the common people were asked to stay away from it.
Some experts have said that the object could contain toxic materials, the BBC added.
