This debris that fell from the sky onto a house in Florida was in fact a piece of the International Space Station

NASA has confirmed that an object that crashed onto a house in Naples, Florida in early March was indeed a piece of the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting about 400 kilometers away from Earth. Last March 8, the cylindrical object pierced the roof and crossed two floors of the house, causing some damage, but without anyone being injured. The news had circulated widely on social networks and NASA had started an investigation, asking for some time to reconstruct the facts and understand if the debris actually came from the ISS.

According to details provided earlier this week by NASA, the object was part of a shipment of spent batteries that was released into the space environment in 2021. The old batteries, held together on a platform, were expected to remain in orbit for 2- 4 years, gradually losing altitude and then ending up in the densest layers of the Earth’s atmosphere where they would be destroyed. It is not unusual for particular waste to be managed in this way, both to reduce the problem of space debris that could damage other instruments in orbit, and because it is the most practical and economical way to manage objects no longer needed.

The entire load had a mass of 2,630 kilograms and the batteries were secured to the platform via some supports made of Inconel, a nickel-chromium based metal superalloy, designed to withstand strong stress and high temperatures. One of the supports did not disintegrate completely during re-entry into the atmosphere and fell on the house in Naples. The object that reached the ground had a mass of 700 grams and dimensions slightly smaller than those of a soft drink can.

NASA has announced that a further technical investigation will be carried out to understand why the debris was not destroyed into smaller, harmless pieces. Assessments of this type are carried out periodically precisely to further reduce the already very low probability that space waste could cause damage to the ground.