An American family is demanding more than $80,000 from NASA after a small piece of space debris crashed onto the roof of their Florida home.
The problem of space debris has increased along with the increase in space traffic and what is happening between NASA and an American family could set a precedent in terms of legal responsibilities. In fact, on March 8, an object weighing approximately 700 grams hit Alejandro Otero’s house in Naples, Florida, making a hole in the roof. NASA confirmed that the space debris was part of a pallet of used batteries released from the International Space Station as waste in 2021.
The request of the American family
Instead of completely disintegrating before falling to Earth, a section of this piece of battery remained intact when it re-entered the atmosphere, the US space agency reported. Otero’s son was at home at the time of the impact, according to the family’s lawyers, who added that NASA has six months to respond to their request.
“My clients are seeking adequate compensation to justify the stress and impact this event has had on their lives,” said attorney Mica Nguyen Worthy. “They are grateful that no one suffered physical injuries as a result of this accident, but a near-miss situation like this could have been catastrophic. “We could have risked serious injuries or even deaths” she concluded.
The space waste problem
This is not the first time that pieces of space debris have fallen on people’s homes on Earth. Typically, most debris from objects orbiting Earth remains in orbit. Many of them, however, disintegrate when they come into contact with the atmosphere, the fact is that this is a serious problem that must be addressed before the situation around our planet becomes unsustainable, both for astronauts and citizens.
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