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Title: NASA confirms its space trash pierced Florida manΓÇÖs roof

Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:40:57 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/nasa-confirms-its-space-trash-pierced-florida-mans-roof-204056957.html?src=rss

On March 8, a piece of space debris plunged through a roof in Naples, FL,
ripped through two floors and (fortunately) missed the son of homeowner
Alejandro Otero. On Tuesday, NASA confirmed the results of its analysis of
the incident. As suspected, itΓÇÖs a piece of equipment dumped from the
International Space Station (ISS) three years ago.

NASAΓÇÖs investigation of the object at Kennedy Space Center in Cape
Canaveral confirmed it was a piece of the EP-9 support equipment used to
mount batteries onto a cargo pallet, which the ISSΓÇÖ robotic arm dropped on
March 11, 2021. The haul, made up of discarded nickel-hydrogen batteries, was
expected to orbit Earth between two to four years (it split the difference,
lasting almost exactly three) ΓÇ£before burning up harmlessly in the
atmosphere,ΓÇ¥ as NASA predicted at the time. Not quite.

The roof-piercing debris was described as a stanchion from NASA flight
support equipment used to mount the batteries onto the cargo pallet. Made of
the metal alloy Inconel, the object weighs 1.6 lbs and measures 4 inches tall
and 1.6 inches in diameter.

Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house
in Naples.
Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son.
Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? IΓÇÖve left
messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV

ΓÇö Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024

Otero told Fort Meyers CBS affiliate WINK-TV that he was on vacation when his
son told him that an object had pierced their roof. ΓÇ£I was shaking,ΓÇ¥ he
said. ΓÇ£I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something
landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage. IΓÇÖm super
grateful that nobody got hurt.ΓÇ¥

NASA says it will investigate the equipment dumpΓÇÖs jettison and re-entry to
try to figure out why the object slammed into OteroΓÇÖs home instead of
disintegrating into flames. ΓÇ£NASA specialists use engineering models to
estimate how objects heat up and break apart during atmospheric re-entry,ΓÇ¥
the space agency explained in a news release. ΓÇ£These models require
detailed input parameters and are regularly updated when debris is found to
have survived atmospheric re-entry to the ground.ΓÇ¥

Most space junk moves extremely fast, reaching up to 18,000 mph, according to
NASA. It explains, ΓÇ£Due to the rate of speed and volume of debris in LEO,
current and future space-based services, explorations, and operations pose a
safety risk to people and property in space and on Earth.ΓÇ¥

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-
confirms-its-space-trash-pierced-florida-mans-roof-204056957.html?src=rss

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