The object was expected to “burn up completely” upon entering Earth’s atmosphere.
A Naples, Florida, man now has answers, more than a month after a space object crashed into the roof of his home.
NASA confirmed in a press release that the object was part of a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the International Space Station.
Specifically, NASA said the object was “a pole from NASA flight support equipment used to mount batteries to the cargo pallet.”
“In March 2021, NASA ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station after delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost,” the agency said, noting: “The total mass of hardware released from the space station was approximately 5,800 pounds .”
After examination, NASA said it assessed that the object was made of an Inconel metal alloy, weighed 1.6 pounds and measured four inches in height and 1.6 inches in diameter.
NASA said the cargo pallet is expected to “burn completely” upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, according to the press release.
However, the pole hit the roof of Alejandro Otero’s home in Naples, Florida, on March 8, Otero confirmed to ABC News at the time, after sharing several photos damage to X.
Otero said in a March 15 post that the apparent space object “teared the roof off” and went through two floors of his home, and that the object “almost hit my son.”
In a statement to ABC News on April 2, NASA said the agency “collected an object in cooperation with the owner and will analyze the object at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as possible to determine its origin”, then adding that “More information will be available once the analysis is complete.
In an April interview with WINK-TV in Ft. Myers, Fla., Otero said he was on vacation when the incident took place, but his son was home and called him about the damage, saying, “Something tore the house apart and then made a big hole on the floor and ceiling.”
“When we heard that, we were like impossible, and then I immediately thought of a meteorite,” Otero told WINK.
“It used to have a cylindrical shape and you can tell by the shape of the top that it was moving in that direction through the atmosphere. Whatever you burned, created in that burn and melted the metal in that direction ” said Otero. WINK.
“I was shaking. I was in complete disbelief,” Otero told WINK of his reaction to arriving home and seeing the damage caused by the impact. “What are the chances that something would land on my house with that force and cause that much damage?” he said, adding, “I’m very grateful that no one was hurt.”
In response to the damage caused by the pole to Otero’s home, NASA said in the release: “NASA remains committed to operating responsibly in low Earth orbit and mitigating as many risks as possible to protect people on Earth when the space hardware is to be released.”