US family sues Nasa for $80,000 in damages after space debris hits home
US family sues Nasa for $80,000 in damages after space debris hits home
Debris was from a pallet released from space station that did not burn up in atmospheric re-entry
A family in Naples, Florida, whose home was struck by debris that fell to Earth from outer space and punched a hole in the roof is pursuing $80,000 from Nasa in compensation for damages.
The law firm Cranfill Sumner said in a press release that it filed a claim on behalf of plaintiff Alejandro Otero and his family.
A metallic cylinder slab from a cargo pallet that had been released by the International Space Station in 2021 hit the Otero family home on 8 March 2024 while their son Daniel was home. No one was injured, though it created a hole in the roof and floor.
Otero told Wink News that the object almost hit his son, who was two rooms over.
The US space agency later confirmed the debris was from its flight support equipment. A section of the debris remained intact rather than disintegrating after it entered Earth’s atmosphere before falling to the surface.
I hate frivolous lawsuits as much as anyone, but this seems very reasonable. Fix my stuff and let me keep the piece and we're cool.
The fact that you even thought frivolous lawsuit when reading the headline is a sign that McDonald's campaign to vilifying suing worked.
That's quite the reach. It certainly could have been the McDonald's propaganda of whose details I was fully aware, but it was more likely the "My Mac and cheese took too long to cook" suit, the "Texas Pete isn't even made in Texas" suit, the infamous "$54 million because my dry cleaner lost my pants" suit, or any of a litigious litany of loonies trying to sue for exorbitant sums of money over minor inconveniences.
Space junk comes through your roof and you want the damages repaired? Cool. McDonald's not included.
I thought the same thing. This doesn't seem frivolous at all. They're not claiming that they're living in constant fear of the sky falling.
And I'm with ya, I'd totally want to keep the debris.
Yeah some people would bubble this lawsuit as like “we’re seeking millions in psychological damages” but 80k is what I would expect for home repair and a little “you almost killed our kid”
Anything that survives deorbit might be slightly radioactive so they can have it back, if it were me.
80,000 seem like a reasonable amount.
That was my thought as well. Seems like a reasonable amount to cover repairs and some extra without being excessive.
That's hardly even a story - house repairs cost a lot of money, and NASA's equipment (by their own admission) caused the damage.
It's only the police that get away with ruining people's things without paying.
I dunno, if a car kicks up a rock from the road and smashes a windscreen, that's considered no one's fault. Even though the car in front kicked it up.
In this case, NASA have assumed that things would burn up in re-entry, based on past experience and modelling. For some reason that didn't happen here. However, that might not be enough to prove liability - if NASA is considered to already make reasonable efforts to prevent this.
A rock falling from a truck's load on the highway however is the fault of the truck owner, regardless of whatever bumper sticker they want to put saying otherwise. Trucks are required to properly secure their loads.
This isn't random space debris that existed and entered the atmosphere without NASA involvement.
Probably just suing so that insurance covers it.
Just a matter of time before they add a higher deductible specifically for space junk. 😒
Imagine if space shit killed your dog
Fuck right off, my life sucks enough. My precious little dog is my one ray of sunshine in my life, he's always happy to see me and never fails to bring a smile to my face. Dogs are just the best, idk how anyone could possibly not like them, it just doesn't compute for me.
Or your parent/guardian
Or in this case, their son, who was home at the time, and just happened to be in a different room
NASA probably doesn't want to pay this because it would set a precedent that they have to pay for other space debris incidents. The days of counting on debris landing somewhere harmless or burning up in the atmosphere would be over.
Good. It's a flawed system that did damage to someone's home and almost killed their kid.