Metal object that struck Florida home was junk from space station, NASA confirms

A metal object that fell from the sky and tore through the roof of a Naples, Fla., home last month before getting lodged in a family's wall was debris from a pallet of trash NASA flung into space three years ago, officials confirmed Monday.

The 1.6-pound cylindrical object that struck Alejandro Otero's house, frightening his son as it smashed through the roof, was part of a 5,800-pound collection of old nickel hydride batteries released from the International Space Station in March 2021, NASA said in a news release. The object was expected to burn up when re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Instead, part of it survived re-entry in an incident that sparked nationwide curiosity about whether it really was out-ofthis-world junk.

NASA is still investigating how the debris survived, adding that it “remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit, and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth when space hardware must be released.”

After the debris struck his home on March 8, Otero told The Washington Post that he “knew it was from outer space.”

NASA has a history of releasing equipment it wants to dispose of into space, where it normally vaporizes in the atmosphere. But Otero's situation was an oddity.

Otero said that he had contacted his insurance company about fixing his house, but it's unclear whether he has been able to repair the damage or sought compensation for it. In its post, NASA did not directly address the damage to Otero's home and did not immediately respond to questions about whether it will cover the cost of repairs.

If Otero seeks compensation, it's difficult to say how the process would play out, said Mark J. Sundahl, a professor who teaches space law at Cleveland State University.

“This is all new ground,” he said.

The case with Otero's house is unique in that it involves a civilian-owned property, which Sundahl said has little precedent. But it has brought a sense of urgency to a decades-long debate among space scholars about how to address debris and its potential to cause damage, he said.