NASA discovered that space debris hit a house in Florida, USA, after entering the atmosphere without decaying.
The part fell from the International Space Station (ISS) because it was part of a converted battery pack.
On March 8, a man named Alejandro Otero reported that a metal object “punched through the roof and two floors” of his house and nearly hit his son.
The story went viral and many began to wonder about the veracity of this information, as many did not believe that it was actually space debris.
This man shared some pictures and videos of the moment the object crashed through the ceiling and floor of his home in Naples.
“It was a huge sound. “He almost hit my son… He was two rooms away and heard everything,” Otero told Wink News.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell responded to the tweets by saying that he had tracked down space debris and was sure it belonged to the EP-9 battery pack.
“I think you may be right, and it is something of a re-entry of the EP-9 battery platform,” the scientist said.
Hello. Looks like one of these pieces missed Fort Myers and ended up in my house in Naples.
Broke through the roof and traversed two floors. Almost his son.
Can you please help me get NASA to contact me? I have left messages and emails with no response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV— Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024
See more: Johan won a legal battle against some geologists to preserve a meteorite that had fallen on his land
NASA confirmed the authenticity of the space object
The cylindrical piece of space debris was recovered by NASA for analysis and it was proven that it was indeed space debris.
“Based on the analysis, the agency determined that the debris was a NASA flight support equipment strut used to place the batteries on the charging pad,” the space agency said.
According to experts, this object is made of Inconel metal alloy, weighs 0.7 kilograms, measures 10 centimeters in height and 4 centimeters in diameter.
Although this space debris was not very large, it had enough strength to break through the ceiling and floor of the house.
NASA explained that this object was created in March 2021 when a battery charging platform replacement maneuver was carried out on the space station.
The process was to release this platform, which contained nickel hydride batteries, to install new batteries made with lithium-ion that improve energy capacity.
The object released into space in this way weighed more than 2,500 tons and was expected to completely disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere.
“This piece of hardware survived reentry and struck a home in Naples, Florida,” NASA said.
The space agency said it would launch an investigation to determine how objects are disposed of in space and what the likelihood of them falling to Earth is.
The debate about who should pay compensation
The story about the impact of this space debris went viral and eventually sparked a debate about who should pay for the damage caused to the house.
Alejandro Otero assured through his networks that he hopes to communicate with the space agencies to find out.
“Your help is critical to repairing the damage caused by this intentional release. But the most important thing is how to organize the payload in the future so that it burns completely when it returns,” he said.
Specifically, the International Space Station is a joint project between five space agencies: NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA/ASC (Canada).
Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, said NASA may not be responsible for the damage.
“If it is a man-made space object that was launched into space by another country and caused damage to Earth, that country would be fully responsible to the owner of the house for the damage caused,” he told the Ars portal Technica.
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