Somehow the world missed this: In December, on a beach in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the above satellite washed up like a dead fish and with about the same amount of fanfare. No one’s claiming it, but the satellite looks pretty Russian. Though, there’s also a mural of a flamingo on its backside, which might have something to do with French Guiana. Unfortunately, anything more telltale would’ve burned up on re-entry.

Conor Myhrvold has a post up on the PLoS Blog Site site about coming across it unexpectedly while on a trip to test out a new underwater camera rig. “According to the Tobago Cays marine park ranger I talked to,” he writes, “the satellite was discovered floating in the water by one of his colleagues.” Unfortunately, the timing doesn’t quite match up for it to be the failed Russian Phobos-Grunt, so it remains beached and alone. How sad.

Apparently satellites on tropical beaches are the new rusted old cars in the woods.

Connections:

• The Probes and Cons of Russia’s Martian Moon Shot
• The Sky Is Falling: Space Junk’s Greatest Hits
• How Disproving the Big Bang Explains the Pioneer Spacecraft Mystery

Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.

Image: Conor Myhrvold