What would you do if you found it in your own garden?
On October 13, a farmer from central California discovered a strange metal object in his own garden. He called the local sheriff's office. After the inspection, experts were invited from the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The analysis showed that the burned piece of metal is the remainder of the fuel tank from the Iridium 70 communication satellite. On October 10, it came out of its orbit.
Iridium 70 was part of a constellation of communications satellites, first launched in the late 1990s. This one was sent on a Delta 7920-10C rocket on May 17, 1998, together with Iridium 72, 73, 74 and 75. Of these vehicles, only Iridium 73 is still in orbit. Iridium 70 spent 20 years, 4 months and 23 days on the orbital path. For the period of his service, he provided satellite phone calls in the global Iridium network. Experts say that the fall of the fragments of earthly apparatus from space to land is a rare phenomenon. Usually they continue to rotate around the Earth or fall into the water.
