NASA acknowledged Monday that the object that crashed into a home in Naples, Florida, last month was a piece of International Space Station hardware that was supposed to burn up during reentry before reaching Earth’s surface.
Alejandro Otero said an instrument from the International Space Station crashed into his home in Naples, and posted a photo of the object on X, according to astronomers who were tracking where and when the instrument entered Earth’s atmosphere did.
Otero told astronomers that it appears one of the pieces missed Fort Myers and landed inside his home.
“It crashed through the roof to the second floor,” he posted on X, adding that he almost hit his son.
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Otero’s other posts included photos of the cylindrical object, as well as Nest security video footage of the mid-afternoon crash.
“It was something I had never seen before,” Otero told Fox News. “It looked like it had been burnt and scraped, and it was heavy for its size.”
NASA was contacted about the object and began an investigation to identify the object and determine the cause of the crash.
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A strut recovered from a NASA flight support device used to attach International Space Station batteries to cargo pallets. The column survived atmospheric entry on March 8 and crashed into a home in Naples, Florida. (NASA)
The space agency previously announced that in March 2021, ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to replace aging nickel-metal hydride batteries after new lithium-ion batteries were delivered and installed as part of a power upgrade. He pointed out that a cargo pallet containing To the orbital outpost.
The total mass of the ejected hardware is about 5,800 pounds and is expected to completely burn up as it enters Earth’s atmosphere on March 8, according to NASA.
However, NASA has determined that the object Otero found in his home was part of the cargo and survived re-entry to Earth.
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A strut recovered from a NASA flight support device used to attach International Space Station batteries to cargo pallets. The column survived atmospheric entry on March 8 and crashed into a home in Naples, Florida. (NASA)
NASA said an investigation determined the debris was a support column for a NASA flight support system used to attach batteries to a cargo pallet.
The object is made of the metal alloy Inconel, is approximately 4 inches long, 1.6 inches in diameter, and weighs 1.6 pounds, according to NASA.
The space agency plans to conduct further investigation into how the object survived atmospheric reentry. The research will include examining engineering models to estimate how objects will heat up and break down upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
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As the International Space Station orbited over the Pacific Ocean west of Central America in 2021, an external pallet filled with old nickel-metal hydride batteries was ejected from the Canadarm2 robotic arm. (Courtesy: NASA/JSC)
NASA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries regarding this matter.
Still, NASA released a statement about the investigation on its website.
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“NASA remains committed to operating responsibly in low Earth orbit and mitigating risks as much as possible to protect people on Earth when space equipment must be released.” says the statement.
Fox News Digital’s Megan Myers contributed to this report.
