Florida family sues NASA after piece of space station crashed through home’s roof

Jacob Langston, Digital Journalist

Associated Press

A family in Florida has filed a lawsuit against NASA after a piece of space junk from the the International Space Station crashed through their home’s roof in March.

The cylindrical object that tore through the home in Naples on March 8 was subsequently taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for analysis. NASA later confirmed that the object was a metal support used to mount old batteries on a cargo pallet for disposal.

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A statement from the law firm Cranfill Sumner posted on Friday said they have submitted a claim to NASA to recover for damages “resulting from a space debris incident involving property owner, Alejandro Otero and his family.”

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Homeowner Alejandro Otero told television station WINK at the time that he was on vacation when his son told him what had happened. Otero came home early to check on the house, finding the object had ripped through his ceiling and torn up the flooring.

“I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage,” Otero said. “I’m super grateful that nobody got hurt.”

According to the statement, the damages for the Otero family members include non-insured property damage loss, business interruption damages, emotional/mental anguish damages, and the costs for assistance from third parties required in the process.

“Space debris is a real and serious issue because of the increase in space traffic in recent years,” attorney Mica Nguyen Worthy said. “My clients are seeking adequate compensation to account for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives. They are grateful that no one sustained physical injuries from this incident, but a ‘near miss’ situation such as this could have been catastrophic. If the debris had hit a few feet in another direction, there could have been serious injury or a fatality.”

In NASA’s analysis of the incident, the space agency said the hardware was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere.

“NASA remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit, and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth when space hardware must be released,” their statement read in part.

NASA will have six months to respond to the claims.

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