Space debris falls on Texas

Debris believed to be that of a recent satellite collision in space has been seen falling across Texas in the US. TV crews captured a fireball hurtling to earth while they were filming a marathon near the state capital Austin.

For golfers at a local course, it was the last thing they expected to see. Eyewitness Jerry Swartz said:

‘‘We were amazed and shocked. We were waiting to see if there was any more debris that might be coming out of the sky. It made us pause a minute to look around. We sort of expected to see some sort of explosion.’‘

The space collision saw an American telecoms satellite hit a defunct Russian military bird last week. The crash and its resulting debris has raised the issue of just how full near-space around Earth actually is, and increased calls for tighter regulation with more than 18,000 man-made objects currently in orbit.

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tags: Austin, Space, USA