Alejandro Otero of Naples, Florida, wrote on the X platform last month that a metal object “tore off the roof and went over two floors” of his house, nearly hitting his son on March 8.
This happened at a time and place that is very similar to the official expectation for the burning of part of a shipping platform carrying old batteries sent out from the orbital station in 2021, which suggests a connection with the event in Florida, according to space observers.
After taking the body from Otero for analysis, NASA confirmed in a new blog post that the predictions in this context were correct.
“Based on an investigation, the agency determined that the debris is support from NASA’s flight support equipment that was used to place the batteries on the charging platform,” she said.
She said: “The body is made of Inconel metal alloy, weighs 1.6 pounds (0.7 kilograms), is 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall and 1.6 inches in diameter. “
The US space agency also promised to study how debris escapes from total destruction in the atmosphere, saying it will update its engineering models accordingly.
She continued, saying: “NASA will remain committed to operating responsibly in low Earth orbit, and minimizing risks as much as possible to protect people on Earth when necessary launch space vehicles. “
A report published by the specialized website “Ars Technica” last month said that although the batteries belonged to NASA, they were attached to a suitcase structure launched by the Japanese space agency, which could potentially liability to make complex.
Previous examples of space debris hitting Earth include part of the SpaceX Dragon capsule landing on a sheep farm in Australia in 2022. Skylab, the first American space station, landed in Western Australia too.
Recently, China was criticized by NASA for allowing its giant Long March rocket to descend to Earth after deorbit.
