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NASA To Investigate Mysterious 'Space Ball'
redletterdave writes "In mid-November, a hollow space ball fell from the sky and crashed into the earth in Namibia, the African nation situated above South Africa and west of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Authorities recovered the sphere in a grassy village north of Windhoek, the country's capital. The hollow ball, which appears to be made of 'two halves welded together,' has a rough surface, a 14-inch diameter and measures 43 inches around. The strange globe created a crater 13 inches deep and almost 12.5 feet wide, but was found almost 60 feet from the landing spot. Paul Ludik, the police forensics director investigating the case, says the dense ball weighs 13 pounds and is made of a 'metal alloy known to man.' NASA and the European Space Agency will both help investigate the strange occurrence."
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The Great Space Ball Mystery Has Been Solved
"For anyone wondering what it actually is, it's likely a 39-litre hydrazine bladder tank (based on its apparent size; there are also much larger hydrazine tanks)," he wrote. "They're used on unmanned rockets for satellite launches, which would explain why they're falling down in such a specific geographic footprint."
Mythbusters were shooting in Africa?
It's a COPV, see here or page 11 here. The wrapping has probably shielded it enough during the atmospheric re-entry and then ripped away, or it could be from lower altitude flight. In fact NASA and ESA have already studied this object, and most responsible news outlets have explained it along with the newsreport. The only real question is which mission or ship it is from, but unfortunately that might never be found out.
Was it an African or European space ball?
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Mysterious Space Ball fell to earth in Namibia, presumably from outer space.
Authorities recovered the Mysterious Space Ball in a grassy village north of Windhoek, the country's capital.
Mysterious Space Ball, which appears to be made of 'two halves welded together,' has a rough surface, a 14-inch diameter and measures 43 inches around.
Mysterious Space Ball created a crater 13 inches deep and almost 12.5 feet wide, but was found almost 60 feet from the landing spot.
Mysterious Space Ball weighs 13 pounds and is made of a 'metal alloy known to man.'
NASA and the European Space Agency will both help investigate Mysterious Space Ball.
Do not taunt Mysterious Space Ball.
I came here wondering why there were no references to the falling spotlight in The Truman Show. The fact that every such reference has been removed tells me everything I need to know.
As someone else pointed out, most of the re-entered objects that are reasonably intact are spherical tanks. They're one of the few components of a spacecraft that are very solidly built. Most are titanium, or titanium wrapped in Kevlar, so they can take re-entry temperatures. Spheres have good re-entry aerodynamics. Nose cones have been hemispherical since the late 1950, after it was discovered that pointy noses look cool but don't work well. (See the X-3 Stilleto, an unsuccessful jet plane from 1952. Looks it was designed by George Lucas.)