A family from Naples, Florida, whose home was damaged by a piece of space debris from the International Space Station last March, is suing NASA following the incident.
The space agency had already confirmed that the 1.6-pound (0.72 kg) cylindrical object that entered the home after piercing the roof of Alejandro Otero’s family was part of a 5,800-pound (2,540 kg) cargo pallet with used nickel hydride batteries that had been released from the International Space Station in March 2021.
Otero previously told The Washington Post that on the day of the incident, his son, who was in the house at the time of the impact, called him scared to come to the house. Upon arrival, Otero found the dense cylindrical piece of charred metal, smaller than a soup can, embedded in the wall and said he knew immediately that “it came from space.”
“I was shaking. I could not believe it. What are the chances of something falling on my house with that much force to cause so much damage,” Otero told TV station WINK at the time. “I am extremely grateful that no one was hurt.”.
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In a statement Friday night, a legal representative for the Otero family described the incident as a “near accident” that “could have been catastrophic.”
“My clients are seeking adequate compensation that accounts for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives,” said lawyer Mica Nguyen Worthy, quoted by the newspaper.
“If the piece of space debris had hit a few meters in another direction, it could have caused serious injuries or caused a death,” he stressed.
The family is seeking compensation of more than $80,000, the lawyer confirmed in an email sent to The Washington Post.
NASA has not responded to a request for comment on the legal claim.
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NASA has six months to respond to the lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, Worthy said in the press release, adding that “space debris is a real and serious problem due to the increase in space traffic in recent years.”
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
The way the special agency responds to the lawsuit could set a legal precedent for these types of incidents when they affect people in the United States, said Worthy, who calls on NASA to comply with its obligations under international space law.
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“If the incident had occurred abroad and someone from another country had been harmed by the same space debris as in the Otero case, The United States would have been absolutely responsible for paying those damages”he explained.
