Imagine sitting at home, watching TV or eating dinner, and something falls through your roof, damaging your house and nearly hitting your son. It has to seem surreal, but for one man in Florida, it was very much reality.
First, some background. Back in March offloaded junk from the Space Station re-entered the atmosphere, that they thought would burn up on re-entry.
The EP-9 equipment pallet reentered at 1929 UTC over the Gulf of Mexico between Cancun and Cuba. This was witih the previous prediction window but a little to the northeast of the 'most likely' part of the path. A couple minutes later reentry and it would have reached Ft Myers
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 8, 2024
The path was a little off, but for one man in Naples, it made all the difference in the world.
Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples.
— Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024
Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son.
Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? I’ve left messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV
Poor Alejandro. We're so glad his son wasn't hurt.
Twitter/X had some fun with it.
I just want to say you're the coolest dude who has ever survived an orbital bombardment by his own government.
— Smells Like Teen Statism (@BlueEightySix) April 2, 2024
Heh.
And were helpful.
NASA are not the right people to contact. I have passed on this to the experts at the Aerospace Corporation who study this sort of thing.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 16, 2024
We did not know this.
We'll keep it in mind if space junk hits our house.
It tore through the concrete tile roof, the wood floor upstairs, then through the sheetrock ceiling below.
— NiedermeyersDeadHorse aka NDH (@NiedsG) April 17, 2024
He is very calm, considering. https://t.co/krwgw8JruZ
Very calm.
As if we didn’t already have enough to worry about. Add “space junk falling from the sky” to your lists. https://t.co/68cSHydbW2
— A (@granolalawyer) April 17, 2024
Right?
That was a month ago, and yesterday NASA confirmed it was some space junk that landed in Alejandro's Naples home.
NEW - NASA confirms space station debris hit Florida man’s home https://t.co/HoAZh84GyE
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 16, 2024
An object that crashed from the sky into an American man’s home was a hunk of debris ejected from the International Space Station, NASA confirmed Monday.
The strange tale came to light last month when Alejandro Otero of Naples, Florida posted on X that a metallic item “tore through the roof and went (through) 2 floors” of his house, almost striking his son, on March 8.
It occurred at a time and location that closely matched official predictions for the atmospheric burn-up of a cargo pallet fragment carrying old batteries that was jettisoned from the orbital outpost in 2021, making it a likely match, according to space watchers.
NASA, which subsequently collected the object from Otero for analysis, confirmed in a new blog post that the predictions were true.
“Based on the examination, the agency determined the debris to be a stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet,” it said.
“The object is made of the metal alloy Inconel, weighs 1.6 pounds (0.7 kilograms), is 4 inches (10 centimeters) in height and 1.6 inches in diameter.”
The US space agency also pledged to investigate how the debris survived being fully destroyed in the atmosphere, adding it would update its engineering models accordingly.
Imagine being Alejandro's homeowners insurance company and getting that call.
Same vibes… pic.twitter.com/kTV1Sh3Pgi
— Dub Show Podcast (@ThatDubGuy) April 16, 2024
Same vibes indeed.
Wow, that's wild! Imagine having space station debris land in your backyard. I hope everyone is okay and that there wasn't too much damage. It's a reminder of how unpredictable space exploration can be.
— noorulain (@noorulain034) April 16, 2024
Had to be scary.
Of course, it landed in Florida.
— Jay Matthews (@JayMatthews333) April 16, 2024
Because Florida man doesn't get enough headlines.
Now we have to give thought to space garbage hitting us and our homes. Does my home insurance policy cover getting hit from space station debris? https://t.co/enqoBFBzH7
— Linda Britton-Fairchild (@FairchildL3853) April 16, 2024
The odds of this happening are astronomical, but new fear unlocked.
UPDATE: The space junk ended up hitting a house in Florida: https://t.co/pYYZu5g2xA https://t.co/ufW7rCGUv1
— Brian Lada (@wxlada) April 17, 2024
This guy tracked the Space Station when it passed over his house. Bet he's feeling pretty lucky today.
According to Scientific American, the space junk was jettisoned from the Space Station three years ago.
NASA has confirmed that the debris that crashed into a Florida home is from trash tossed three years ago from the International Space Station that subsequently reentered Earth’s atmosphere. https://t.co/G57dJ2wW0c
— Scientific American (@sciam) April 16, 2024
Wow.
We won't do the math, but the odds of it hitting a home in Naples after three years in orbit have to be insane.
Maybe Alejandro should buy a lottery ticket, too.
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