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ISS NASA Space

Trash From the ISS May Have Hit a House In Florida (arstechnica.com) 135

A nearly two-pound piece of trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida. Alejandro Otero said it "tore through the roof and both floors of his two-story house in Naples, Florida," reports Ars Technica. "Otero wasn't home at the time, but his son was there." From the report: A Nest home security camera captured the sound of the crash at 2:34 pm local time (19:34 UTC) on March 8. That's an important piece of information because it is a close match for the time -- 2:29 pm EST (19:29 UTC) -- that US Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of space debris from the space station. At that time, the object was on a path over the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward southwest Florida. This space junk consisted of depleted batteries from the ISS, attached to a cargo pallet that was originally supposed to come back to Earth in a controlled manner. But a series of delays meant this cargo pallet missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries from the space station in 2021 to head for an unguided reentry.

Otero's likely encounter with space debris was first reported by WINK News, the CBS affiliate for southwest Florida. Since then, NASA has recovered the debris from the homeowner, according to Josh Finch, an agency spokesperson. Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center will analyze the object "as soon as possible to determine its origin," Finch told Ars. "More information will be available once the analysis is complete." [...] In a post on X, Otero said he is waiting for communication from "the responsible agencies" to resolve the cost of damages to his home.

If the object is owned by NASA, Otero or his insurance company could make a claim against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, according to Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi. "It gets more interesting if this material is discovered to be not originally from the United States," she told Ars. "If it is a human-made space object which was launched into space by another country, which caused damage on Earth, that country would be absolutely liable to the homeowner for the damage caused." This could be an issue in this case. The batteries were owned by NASA, but they were attached to a pallet structure launched by Japan's space agency.

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Trash From the ISS May Have Hit a House In Florida

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  • by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @02:11AM (#64363048)

    Trash From the ISS May Have Hit a House In Florida

    And the contents separated, itemized, and on eBay. Florida Man may soon have a new truck.

  • by sit1963nz ( 934837 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @02:47AM (#64363074)
    I am shocked that the government is not suing the man for putting his house in the way and damaging the batteries...
  • by serafean ( 4896143 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @03:49AM (#64363128)

    We already know what happens if it had been a toilet seat. With a battery, we'll see, still has to be written.

  • That's an underestimate, imo. You'd get more than that for it on Ebay, for sure.

    Casual thought: imagine the hoo-ha if this was from a Chinese satellite.

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Ron DeSantis: "It's from trashy transgender space aliens! We must retaliate before they corrupt our children! I've asked MTG to activate the Jewish Space Lasers!"

  • The government will argue that the value of the house increased as a tourist attraction, and that the homeowner is liable for both tax on imputed income, and increased property tax.
  • Florida (Score:4, Funny)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @06:09AM (#64363322)

    Where trash naturally gravitates to.

  • Until the police go right up to the ISS, knock on their door, and give them a ticket for littering.
  • by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @08:45AM (#64363604) Homepage Journal

    Instead of worrying about who manufactured the space junk, why wouldn't you go after the agency or individual who made the decision to jettison it?
    I should check my homeowners insurance agreement and see if they cover me for damages from space debris, meteor, etc. It's rare enough that it ought to be incredibly cheap.

  • Ah, hell, I hate it when a tangent universe happens.

    Have fun I guess?

  • ... when I dump my car battery in the ocean.

  • by kmahan ( 80459 )

    Better that than a RFG (Rod From God) -- one of Pournelle's fun weapons.

  • by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2024 @11:13AM (#64363932)

    Or maybe the actual target was at Mar-a-Lago.

  • Let's assume Japan or Russia owns the junk, shouldn't the feds just compensate, and the feds can go after Japan or Russia? It's fine to state another country is liable, but what chances do you have of another country being held accountable, especially by a homeowner or insurance company in another country?

    Make this a federal case, compensate the guy, and use diplomatic relations to recover the funds. At least in that approach, the homeowner doesn't have to deal with unreasonable delays.
    • That depends on which country is found responsible. The British are generally fairly good about such things as are the rest of the Commonwealth nations. Former British colonies that decided not to join the Commonwealth are rather hit and miss. I'd guess that Japan would pay, not because it's what's right, but to save face. I know that nazi Germany once paid damages to the Republic of Ireland for an accidental bombing of Dublin because they wanted to keep it neutral, even though that meant paying for rep
  • another pile of trash in Florida ?

  • the difference ?

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