Miami, June 24 (EFE).- A family from Florida asks the US space agency NASA for compensation for the damages causedafter a piece of trash from the International Space Station (ISS) fell into their home last March, ruining part of the roof and causing them “emotional distress.”
One of the plaintiffs, Alejandro Otero, who lives in the city of Naples, on the west coast of Florida, said that the cylindrical object crossed his house on March 8.
That day the piece of debris hit the house while his son Daniel, who was present, was almost injured by the piece, which left a considerable hole from the ceiling to the basement.
Damages include “uninsured property damage losses, business interruption damages, emotional and mental distress damages, and the costs of third-party assistance necessary in the process,” says law firm Cranfill Summer, which handled the case. .
“My clients are seeking appropriate compensation that takes into account the stress and impact this event had on their lives,” attorney Mica Nguyen Worthy said in a statement.
“Space debris is a real and serious problem due to the increase in space traffic in recent years,” he emphasized.
Worthy urged NASA to consider that people should not have to bring a claim under a legal theory of negligence when the U.S. government has pledged to be “absolutely liable” under international treaty law for damage to people or property on the Earth’s surface caused by its space objects.
The object was taken for analysis to the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, on the east coast of Florida, which confirmed last April that it was a metal bracket used to mount old batteries on a loading platform for disposal.
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The platform was jettisoned from the space station in 2021 and the cargo was expected to eventually burn up completely upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, but one piece survived.
Otero told the CBS channel that his son was on vacation and called him stunned after being saved from the blow.
“I was shaking. I was in complete disbelief. What are the chances that something would fall into my house with that much force to cause that much damage?” Otero said. “I’m very thankful that no one was hurt.”
(c) EFE Agency
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