Piece of International Space Station Crashes Into Florida Home: NASA

Look out from above!

Homeowners in Florida recently got a rude awakening when hardware from the International Space Station crashed into their home last month, NASA said in a blog post.

In March 2021, ground controllers with NASA used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries. The hardware released was 5,800 pounds, NASA said.

The hardware was expected to fully burn up upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere, except for the small piece that made a detour into the Florida home., NASA said. The item was collected with cooperation of the homeowner and analyzed at the Kennedy Space Center.

The Otero family told WINK News the crash made a “tremendous sound” and almost hit their son, who was two rooms over.

“Something ripped through the house and then made a big hole on the floor and on the ceiling,” said Alejandro Otero. “When we heard that, we were like, impossible, and then immediately I thought a meteorite.”

Otero said everyone in his family is OK.

NASA determined the debris to be a stanchion from flight support equipment used to mount the batteries on the cargo pallet. The object weighs 1.6 pounds, is 4 inches in height and 1.6 inches in diameter.

The International Space Station will also be investigating to determine the cause of the debris survival and NASA said it remains committed to responsibly operating in low Earth orbit and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people when space hardware is released.