NASA verified on Monday (April 15) that an object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home was a piece of space debris, or discarded equipment from the International Space Station.
On March 8, the cylindrical object that ripped through the roof of the Naples residence was transferred to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for study.
According to the space agency, the object was a metal support intended to put outdated batteries on a cargo pallet before disposal.
“Based on the examination, the agency determined the debris to be a stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet,” said agency officials in an update.
The pallet was allegedly dropped from the space station in 2021, with the expectation that it would eventually burn up after entering Earth’s atmosphere. However, one piece survived.
The International Space Station will perform a detailed investigation
“The International Space Station will perform a detailed investigation of the jettison and reentry analysis to determine the cause of the debris’ survival and to update modelling and analysis as needed,” stated the NASA officials.
“NASA specialists use engineering models to estimate how objects heat up and break apart during atmospheric reentry. These models require detailed input parameters and are regularly updated when debris is found to have survived atmospheric reentry to the ground,” they added.
The metal chunk measured about 1.6 pounds
The metal chunk measured about 1.6 pounds (0.7 kilograms) and was described as 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall and 1 1/2 inches (4 centimeters) wide.
Meanwhile, homeowner Alejandro Otero told television station WINK that he was on vacation at the time of the incident and was informed by his son about the metal junk accident.
Otero hurried back home early to investigate what had occurred.
“I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force as to cause so much damage? I’m super grateful that nobody got hurt,” Otero said.