Man officially sues NASA for space junk smashing through his roof

In early March, a man from Naples, Florida, took to X to report an object crashed through the roof of his house, splintering through two floors and almost hitting his son, who was home at the time of impact.

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The cargo pallet being jettisoned from the ISS

An investigation was launched into the object, and it was later confirmed to be a piece of space debris that had been jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS). The homeowner is Alejandro Otero, and on March 8, the two-pound object smashed through his roof. The object was recovered, and NASA launched an investigation into its origins, eventually tracing it back to old batteries being launched from the ISS into an uncontrolled orbit on March 11, 2021 - three years ago.

The object was taken to NASA's Kennedy Space, where it was confirmed to be a piece of the EP-9 support equipment that was used to mount batteries, as shown above. At the time, NASA expected the debris to "harmlessly" burn up in Earth's atmosphere as it made its reentry, with it beginning as more than 2.6 metric tons, or 5,800-pound refrigerator-sized pallet, and eventuating into what was discovered in Otero's living room.

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NASA determined the piece that survived to be a stanchion, or support for the batteries, which is made of the metal alloy Inconel. Now, the family of the house is seeking compensation from NASA for the stress and impact this event had on their lives, particularly the property damage, emotional and mental anguish, and the costs associated with acquiring assistance in this process.

"NASA remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit, and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth when space hardware must be released," wrote the space agency in a previous statement