An American family is claiming more than $80,000 (about ¢41.62 million) from NASA due to a small fragment of space debris that fell from space and passed through the roof of their home in Florida. NASA has six months to respond to the claim.
“The space debris problem has grown along with the increase in space traffic, and NASA’s response could set a precedent for how future claims are handled,” said law firm Cranfill Sumner, which is handling the space debris case. family, in a statement.
On March 8, a 700-gram object hit Alejandro Otero’s house in Naples, Florida, causing a hole in the roof. Later, NASA confirmed that it was a fragment of a used battery charging platform that had been released from the International Space Station (ISS) as waste in 2021.
Instead of disintegrating completely before falling to Earth, a portion remained intact upon re-entering the atmosphere. Otero’s son was in the house at the time of impact.
“The family is seeking appropriate compensation that takes into account the stress and impact this incident had on their lives. They are thankful that no one was physically injured, but a ‘near miss’ situation like this could have been catastrophic. There could have been serious injuries or a fatal incident,” said lawyer Mica Nguyen Worthy.
NASA did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
Space debris is any artifact that was launched into space and was no longer functional or useful. Photography: Archive
Space debris is any artifact that was launched into space and was no longer functional or useful. This includes disused satellites, fragments of ships that break off in flight, remains of accidents and many other objects discarded or separated from ships and other machines.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the amount of debris orbiting the globe exceeds 130 million objects, with sizes usually between one millimeter and 10 centimeters.
