It is assumed that part of the International Space Station broke through the roof of the house

An object weighing almost two kilograms pierced the roof of Alejandro Otero’s house – March 16. A man shared images of a large cylindrical object on the X social network.

According to Ars Technica, NASA is investigating the case to determine whether or not this debris is indeed part of the ISS battery pack.

The block with a total mass of 2.6 tons entered the Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner in 2024. March 8 It was the heaviest debris thrown from the orbital station.

Nine obsolete batteries were scheduled to be ejected from the ISS in 2021. — and the SUV-sized block of space debris has been slowly falling toward Earth ever since.

Experts previously predicted that most of this debris would spontaneously combust on its way back to Earth, but some could survive the collision and fall to Earth. However, where on Earth the ISS components would land was not properly estimated at first.

The sound was recorded by the camera

This incident was captured by a Nest home security camera. The dramatic sound of the fall was captured by the camera on March 8. at 2 p.m. 34 min. local time (9:34 p.m. Lithuanian).

This time coincides with records from the US Space Command, according to which a piece of ISS debris entered Earth’s orbit at 2 p.m. 29 min. Eastern time (21:29 Lithuanian time). Experts noted that around that time, space debris crossed the Gulf of Mexico toward southwest Florida.

According to the report, a NASA spokesperson said the agency had recovered the debris from Mr. Otero’s residence. Scientists at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will closely study the object to determine its exact source.

Otero also announced that he was awaiting a response from “responsible agencies” regarding compensation for the damage to his home.

“It will be even more interesting if it turns out that this material did not originate in the United States,” Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the University of Mississippi Center for Aerospace Law, told Ars Technica. “If it’s a man-made space object launched into space by another country that causes damage on Earth, that country would be fully liable to the homeowner for the damage.”

Although the batteries belonged to NASA, they were attached to a structure launched by the Japanese space agency. This can lead to problems with claims.

NASA has previously stated that no part of the ejected block would survive the landing atmosphere. However, some experts have disputed NASA’s claim.

According to the Aerospace Corporation, when a large object enters the Earth’s atmosphere, about 20 to 40 percent its masses can persist and reach the earth’s surface. However, the exact percentage may vary depending on the specific metal structure of the object.

In this scenario, the object is made of nickel-hydrogen batteries, which are relatively dense metals. This means that most of the object’s mass is more likely to survive re-entry into the atmosphere than objects made of lighter materials.

According to Popular Science, even the European Space Agency expected that some fragments could reach the earth.