Residents living in and near Mukuku Village in Waia Division, Mbooni East Sub-County, Makueni County, were shocked by what was described as “explosion” on Monday, as a massive piece of metal crashed out of the sky.
The Kenya Space Agency (KSA) now thinks that the piece of metal, which is about 2.5 metres in diameter and weighs about 500kg, likely came from a rocket system. Initially, locals were confused and frightened by the event, which took place at about 3:00 PM that fateful day.
KSA has taken over the task of identifying the equipment and, together with the police, placed a guarded cordon around the device because of fears it could pose a public health risk, as experts worked to identify it.
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“Preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle (rocket),” KSA said. “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. This is an isolated case, which the Agency will investigate and address using the established framework under the International Space Law.”
Following the completion of the initial evaluation, the Agency declared, however, that the object posed no immediate threat to safety after being found harmless.
For the better part of December 31 and New Year’s Day, the object became the focus of national attention on social media. Some users speculated that it was part of a decommissioned satellite that had collided, perhaps, while circling Earth.
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