1,000 pounds of space debris crash lands in Kenya

1,000 pounds of space debris crash landed in a village in Kenya on Monday. While investigations into the incident are ongoing, experts have determined that the object, broken into fragments, was an 8-foot separation ring from a rocket.
 

According to NASA, “Rockets typically come in stages, each optimized for different parts of the launch. When each stage has finished its part, it drops away, allowing the smaller remainder to continue on its journey.”

The Kenya Space Agency has reported that this incident is isolated and will continue to be investigated quickly under international space law, the New York Post reports. Agency officials were able to secure the area that the debris landed in on Tuesday morning.

“We want to assure the public that the object poses no immediate threat to safety,” the Kenya Space Agency said in an official statement issued Wednesday. “Our experts will analyze the object, use existing frameworks to identify the owner, and keep the public informed of the next steps and outcomes.”

“Such objects are usually designed to burn up as they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere or to fall over unoccupied areas, such as the oceans,” it added.

No one was harmed by the space junk, however The New York Times reports that villagers were fearful the object could have been a bomb or worse.