(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Miguel Soares)
NASA is facing another legal battle, this time from a Florida resident who was injured when a space junk hit his home.
NASA Sued Over Space Junk That Crashed a Home in Florida
According to a law firm on Friday, an American family is suing NASA for more than $80,000 after a tiny piece of debris crashed from orbit and broke through the roof of their Florida home.
Alejandro Otero's home in Naples, Florida, was struck by an object weighing only 700 grams on March 8, resulting in a hole in the roof. Later, NASA confirmed that it was a component of an old battery cargo pallet that was discarded from the International Space Station in 2021.
A cargo pallet containing old nickel hydride batteries was released by NASA ground controllers on the International Space Station in March 2021, following the delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the space outpost.
The total weight of the space junk was approximately 5,800 pounds. It was expected to burn up in the atmosphere during the re-entry. Nevertheless, a piece of hardware entered the planet and hit Otero's house in Naples, Florida.
The law company said that Otero's kid was at the residence at the time of impact and that NASA had six months to address its claim.
According to Mica Nguyen Worthy, her clients are asking for enough money to make up for the mental and emotional toll that the incident has brought on their lives.
Although they are thankful that no one was physically hurt in the incident, a "near miss" like it one may have had disastrous consequences such as severe injury or fatality.
ALSO READ: NASA Confirms Mysterious Object That Crashed Into Florida Home Was a Space Junk
NASA's Previous Legal Battles
The US space agency has faced several legal battles in the past. In September 2023, two former employees, both military veterans in their 50s, filed a lawsuit against NASA for wrongful termination after the agency allegedly fired them after attempting to form a union.
"NASA controlled all aspects of their employment. They provided the material, the fire trucks, They could decide if they were hired or fired," said Oakland attorney Chambord Benton-Hayes, who represented the pair.
The attorney added that NASA mistreated his clients because they attempted to form a union and were older employees.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos also sued NASA for a lucrative astronaut lunar lander that the latter awarded to Elon Musk's SpaceX in August 2021. Bezos' lawsuit expressed his protest and challenged NASA for its alleged "unlawful and improper evaluation of proposals." However, in November of the same year, Federal Judge Richard Hertling sided with the defense and ruled against Bezos. The executive chairman of Amazon said they respected the court's judgment but clarified that it was not the decision they wanted. However, Bezos ended his statement on X, formerly Twitter, by wishing NASA and SpaceX success on their contract.
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