Object that crashed through Florida roof may have come from ISS
Partner Content
A mysterious object, suspected to be space junk, crash landed through a home in Naples, Florida, on March 8. NASA is investigating the origins of the object, believed to be debris from the ISS.
April 2 (UPI) -- NASA is analyzing a 2-pound object that crashed through a Florida man's roof to determine whether it came from the International Space Station.
Alejandro Otero said the object crashed through the roof of his Naples home at 2:34 p.m. local time on March 8 and the sound was recorded by his Ring security camera.
U.S. Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of debris from the International Space Station around the same time over the Gulf of Mexico with a trajectory taking it toward southwest Florida.
The debris was a cargo pallet of depleted batteries that had originally been intended to be returned to earth in a controlled manner, but a failed Soyuz spacecraft launch led to an interruption to the ISS schedule and the pallet of batteries instead headed back to earth in an uncontrolled reentry.
The ISS is scheduled to receive upgrades and new installations for its hardware and computing capabilities. In order for that to happen, astronauts must venture out into space’s airless vacuum.
Otero said his son was at home at the time of the crash, but was not injured.
The object was turned over to NASA to determine whether it originated from the ISS pallet of batteries.
"It used to have a cylindrical shape, and you can tell by the shape of the top that it traveled in this direction through the atmosphere. Whatever you burned, created in this burn and melted the metal over in this direction," Otero told WINK News.
Report a Typo
