A Florida family whose home was struck by a chunk of space debris earlier this year is now suing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The cylindrical piece of debris failed to burn up in atmospheric re-entry and flew through a home in Naples, Florida leaving a hole in the roof.
“Space debris is a real and serious issue because of the increase in space traffic in recent years,” Mica Nguyen Worthy, the family’s attorney, said in a statement. “My clients are seeking adequate compensation to account for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives.”
“[The family is] grateful that no one sustained physical injuries from this incident, but a ‘near miss’ situation such as this could have been catastrophic,” the attorney adds, saying that the family’s 19-year-old son was home at the time of the incident but was unharmed by the impact.
The claim against NASA was filed last month, and seeks damages including non-insured property damage loss, emotional and mental anguish and other damages, NPR reported.
NASA, who did not respond to the lawsuit, said that the space object was involved in a March 2021 operation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The agency had reportedly released a nearly 6,000-pound pallet of old nickel hydride batteries that it anticipated would orbit Earth for two to four years before burning in the atmosphere.
Following the impact, the space debris was taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for analysis. NASA confirmed that the chunk of debris was a metal support that was used to mount the old batters on a cargo pallet for disposal.
NASA will reportedly have six months to respond to the claim.