NASA confirms mystery object that crashed through roof of Florida home came from space station
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — NASA confirmed Monday that a mystery object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home last month was a chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station.
The cylindrical object that tore through the home in Naples on March 8 was subsequently taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for analysis.
The space agency said it was a metal support used to mount old batteries on a cargo pallet for disposal. The pallet was jettisoned from the space station in 2021, and the load was expected to eventually fully burn up on entry into Earth’s atmosphere, but one piece survived.
The chunk of metal weighed 1.6 pounds (0.7 kilograms) and was 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall and roughly 1 1/2 inches (4 centimeters) wide.
Homeowner Alejandro Otero told television station WINK at the time that he was on vacation when his son told him what had happened. Otero came home early to check on the house, finding the object had ripped through his ceiling and torn up the flooring.
“I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage,” Otero said. “I’m super grateful that nobody got hurt.”
Related articles
Emily Henry interview: The secret to having a healthy relationship with love
NEW YORK (AP) — “Nothing forces you to face your demons like falling in love.”And it’s almost always2024-04-30Chinese FM again urges U.S. to stop suppressing Chinese students
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday slammed the U.S. for creating obstacles for cultural2024-04-30World reaction to the terror attack in Moscow
More than 130 people have been killed in Friday's terrorist attack in Moscow's Crocus City Hall, acc2024-04-30China slams Eswatini PM for visiting Taiwan
China slammed Eswatini's Prime Minister Russell Dlamini's visit to the Taiwan region, urging the Afr2024-04-30FAU's Vladislav Goldin to join Dusty May at Michigan, pulls name out of NBA draft
Vladislav Goldin has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will join his coach from Florida Atlantic, Dus2024-04-30Wang wraps up tour of New Zealand, Australia
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a highly successful tour of New Zealand and Australia on2024-04-30
atest comment