Space Junk Scare: Suspected ISS Battery Fragment Crashes Into Florida Home
Back in 2021, NASA tossed some trash in space and believed that it would burn up as it eventually entered Earth's atmosphere (even though some believed the opposite). That piece of trash, a giant 2.9-ton pallet of old batteries—the single heaviest piece of space trash to be intentionally released by the ISS—culminated its atmospheric burn a few weeks ago over the Gulf of Mexico.
Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples.
— Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024
Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son.
Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? I’ve left messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV
Coincidentally on March 8, someone reported that a two-pound cylindrical object penetrated a roof and two floors of his Naples, Florida home. Alejandro Otero tweeted photos of the object that went through his home with gratefully no injuries to any of its occupants.
Initially Otero tried contacting NASA but to no avail, so he connected with well-know astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell for help. The fact that the location and time of the occurrence was congruous with the pallet of ISS' batteries, McDowell quickly was able to enlist the help of the Aerospace Corporation. The debris from Otero's home has since been taken in for analysis.
Even though it had been projected that the batteries will have little to no chance of striking a person on the ground, this piece of news is quite alarming. Increasing population density and space debris de-orbiting from space are not a good mix. In this case, Otero is stuck with a decent repair bill.
Should NASA be reimbursing the repairs? Or would this be opening up a whole can of legal worms? Share your thoughts in the comments!
