NASA has verified rumors that the unusual object that struck a Florida house earlier this month was, in fact, from the International Space Station (ISS). After the cylindrical object broke through the roof and two floors of a Naples home on March 8, the agency examined it and determined that it originated from a cargo pallet of deteriorating batteries that had been deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) back in 2021.
In a blog post published on Monday, NASA provided more details, stating that the device in question was a support part that was utilized to install the batteries on the 5,800-pound (2,630-kg) pallet that was taken from the space station.
The recovered stanchion, which is slightly smaller than a typical Red Bull can and weighs 1.6 pounds, is made of Inconel, a metal alloy that can survive harsh conditions like high temperatures, pressure, or mechanical pressures.
Although space debris usually burns up in the atmosphere, it is not unheard of for space-related debris to make its way back to Earth. For example, parts from rockets launched by SpaceX and, more recently, the China National Space Administration have crashed into homes. NASA claims that this incident should have included that as well, and it is currently investigating why it did not.
“Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples.
Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost hit my son.
Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? I’ve left messages and emails without a response.” Alejandro 0tero, the owner of the home the object tore through wrote on his X account.
NASA stated that on March 8, 2024, “the hardware was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere.” The International Space Station will conduct a thorough examination of the debris survival and re-entry analysis to ascertain the reason and to improve modeling and analysis as necessary. In-depth input parameters are necessary for these models, which are updated frequently in the event that debris is discovered to have survived atmospheric re-entry into the earth.
