Rocket debris washed up in my backyard

Not literally in my backyard, but on a beach nearby. Some surfer friends reported a strange piece of debris on the beach this morning and my flatmate and I went out to investigate. We weren't sure what we were looking at, and my original plan when I took these pics was to post them here to see if anyone could identify them (hence the attention to detail and lack of aesthetic appeal), but when I got in I ran a search for "SYLDA ANTENNA" (printed on one of the parts) and found this this thread in the NASA Space Flight forums. It turns out it's a piece of Arianespace rocket debris. Frankly I was expecting to be disappointed so I'm pretty thrilled, although I hear Arianespace tends to want their stuff back. I guess it means I can't bring a piece in and hang it on my wall? Finders keepers, right??? In any case we're planning on calling it in on Monday morning. If they don't want it back I'll definitely find a way to hack off a chunk or two. It's not every day I get to touch something that's been out there in orbit.

Anyway, I thought I'd share what I found.

My pics:













Lastly, for a sense of proportion, there's the pic taken by the friend who alerted us, added for size perspective:

I would dragged it home, kept my mouth shut and kept it.

Finders Keepers.

Nice find.

Awesome....Why would you want to call them....You can always claim ignorance right??

mate you simply missed out on making several thousand from e-bay.......

Put that thing on ebay and make some money.

Originally posted by cerebralassassins
mate you simply missed out on making several thousand from e-bay.......

Yes me too, but then the gov might try to sue for selling their property unfortunately... And your avatar... LOL its him!! Nice find op!


Deebo

OP, you're gonna need a bigger roof rack.

It's floatsam.

It's yours if you want it.

You might find that the company who launched the rocket will pay you for it back(I doubt it but you can try).

According to maritime law, floatsam is finders-keepers.

The same goes for yachts abandoned at sea. The first one to hitch a line to it claims ownership.

In Australia we have a yacht race (the Sydney to Hobart) that is brutal on the competing yachts, there are always tug owners ready to head for half sunk yachts that the crew have evacuated. Usually the tug owners will give the yacht owners a chance to buy back their pride-and-joy but that is entirely up to the tug owners if they want to do it.

Most tug owners will for "karmic factor" but they have every right to keep the yachts if they want.

You know what surprises me?

The name on the panel that was found.
e-space?
Solutions...

Anyone heard of that before?

The only thing space related I found was this: eSpace
But the logo is different.



It's amazing what goes into our atmosphere yet no one knows what it is...
Think about it.

reply to post by havok


www.sncorp.com... and not to mention an impressive list of staff www.sncorp.com...

Well, that's just fine and dandy. Perhaps, the environmentalist could work with NASA and pals and help to clean up space junk and other recycleable debris. Surely, there would be jobs to make sure the oceans too would be free of these "important" finds.

Thanks for the responses, guys! I did consider finding a way to drag it home but I'm not keen on knocks on my door in the middle of the night.

It's my flatmate's idea to call the company. Someone on the forum I linked mentioned that they usually try to recover debris, though I couldn't find anything related on their website (e.g. "to return our junk click here" etc).

The area where it washed up isn't often accessed by the public - mainly local surfers use the area - so it's not likely to be noticed unless one goes looking for it. Man, I wish I'd thought of eBay first.

OccamAssassin - thanks for that info! Definitely food for thought.

Originally posted by havok
You know what surprises me?

The name on the panel that was found.
e-space?
Solutions...

Anyone heard of that before?

The only thing space related I found was this: eSpace
But the logo is different.



It's amazing what goes into our atmosphere yet no one knows what it is...
Think about it.

That had me too when I was Googling earlier. I mentioned in the OP that I found a forum link with a user posting a similar find. The word on the rocket part is Arianespace - it's a commercial space transportation company.

tons of stuff up there,....will start raining down one day...

Go back and get the piece
You can bet it wont be there Monday
If they dont want it its yours...Hello e-bay

reply to post by daisyglaze


It sure looks like Arianespace, a French company. Here is one linkclick

And here's the Wiki link pic and logo
That's quite an interesting find. Hope you can trace it.

Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company.[2] It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme.[3]. Two other launch systems are offered by the company, the Soyuz-2 as a medium-lift alternative to Ariane 5, and the Vega as a lighter one.[4]

As of 2004

Important Topic Updates
, Arianespace held more than 50 percent of the world market for boosting satellites to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).[5] More than 240 commercial launches have occurred since May 22, 1984, and Arianespace states that the total number of launch contracts signed since Ariane launches commenced operations in 1984 is 285.[3] Arianespace uses the Centre Spatial Guyanais as a launch site. It has its headquarters in Courcouronnes, Essonne, France,[6] near Évry.[7]

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