Debris from US Rocket Discovered Off British Coast
Officials think they've found debris of a spacecraft that exploded in June.
LONDON -- A large chunk of an American space rocket -- likely from the ill-fated SpaceX Falcon 9 -- has been found off the coast of England, officials aid.
Covered in barnacles and measuring 32 feet by 14 feet, the metal structure has an American flag painted on it. Martin Leslie, Coastal Area Commander, said the debris was "most likely to be the unmanned Space X Falcon 9," which blew up in June.
The unmanned Space X was carrying 4,000 pounds of supplies and school science experiments to the International Space Station in June when it exploded shortly after liftoff in Florida. The Isles of Scilly are more than 4,000 miles away from the launch site.
In a statement, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that the debris were spotted on the sea's surface and recovered with the help of local boatmen.
"It was pretty shocking to scrape the barnacles off and then find out it was a rocket ship," said Joe Thomas, a skipper for Tresco Boat Services who said he came across the metal 100 meters off the shore.
The structure has been towed to the beach of the island of Tresco, where it sits under guard.
towed in and beached a piece of flotsam earlier. thoughts were could be aviation parts ..didnt imagine space race pic.twitter.com/f7esX0ixGb
— pete hicks (@Hicks_PG) November 26, 2015
"It’s not every day a bit of a rocket floats up at home," said Thomas.
