Strange Metal Ball Crashed in Namibia

[AshVX220]

So, come on then.

What does the collective intelligence of PH think this is?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8972985/M...

I think it's intrigueing, one of my colleagues thinks it could be a fuela tank of some sort, not sure what for though. So, over to you guys. What d'yer think?

[Eric Mc]

Looks like a nitrogen or helium tank from a satellite.

[TonyHetherington]

Why do these things always fall in the outer reaches of deserts, and not in Park Lane?

[Einion Yrth]

TonyHetherington said:

Why do these things always fall in the outer reaches of deserts, and not in Park Lane?

Deserts have a tendency to have a larger area.

[itsnotarace]

This thead is now about Spaceballs.

I'm a mog, half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend.

[TonyHetherington]

Guam said:

Einion Yrth said:

Deserts have a tendency to have a larger area.

Simpler answer = proabability

Indeed, I understand they are vast, vast areas, but (perhaps it's just me) probability also suggest they could also come down in urbanised areas, but I never hear of anything.

[Dave_ST220]

TonyHetherington said:

Indeed, I understand they are vast, vast areas, but (perhaps it's just me) probability also suggest they could also come down in urbanised areas, but I never hear of anything.

Position of satelite in Sky?

[Einion Yrth]

Guam said:

I think one would need to know the orbit it was originally in as well, I imagine a lot come down in the Ocean that pass unremarked

I think occassional debris has dropped on the odd midwest town from memory <virtual pint to the first one to find a link>

Esperance , Western Australia

Article said:

In 1979, pieces of the space station Skylab crashed onto Esperance after the craft broke up over the Indian Ocean. The municipality fined the United States $400 for littering.[8] The fine was paid in April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of NASA.[9] Skylab's demise was an international media event, with merchandising, wagering on time and place of re-entry and nightly news reports. The San Francisco Examiner offered a $10,000 prize for the first piece of Skylab to be delivered to their offices. 17-year-old Stan Thornton scooped a few pieces of Skylab off the roof of his home in Esperance, Western Australia and caught the first flight to San Francisco, where he collected his prize.

I love 'fined for littering'.

[Puggit]

Reminds me of the film The gods must be crazy

[mattviatura]

It's the Death Star.

Not that scary in real life size is it.

[shouldbworking]

Familiar

http://news.discovery.com/space/drought-reveals-sh...

[jmorgan]

Not the first and will not be the last
http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/reentry/recovere...

[AshVX220]

Cool, definitely a fuel tank of some sort then.

[Oakey]

You were looking at that image of Comet Lovejoy when you found this story, weren't you?

Telegraph journalist was looking at image of Comet Lovejoy when he saw this.

[NDA]

Cistern ballcock from skylabs lavatories.

Mystery solved.

[Marf]

itsnotarace said:

This thead is now about Spaceballs.

I'm a mog, half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend.

Why didn't anyone tell me my ass was this big!?

[jmorgan]

NDA said:

Cistern ballcock from skylabs lavatories.

Mystery solved.

Probably why its down here then, how is a ball cock going to work up there?

[NDA]

jmorgan said:

NDA said:

Cistern ballcock from skylabs lavatories.

Mystery solved.

Probably why its down here then, how is a ball cock going to work up there?

Not in a humorous mood this morning then?

[Norfolkit]

NDA said:

Cistern ballcock from skylabs lavatories.

Mystery solved.

It's 43 inches across for Gods sake, that some ballcock, only Ann Widdecome would own such a thing and she wouldn't have fitted into Skylab

[jmorgan]

NDA said:

Not in a humorous mood this morning then?

I put a smily in, but I got thinking.......