Why is a Florida family suing NASA?

NASA is on the receiving end of a lawsuit for being a bit of a litterbug. Earlier this year, a two-pound object fell through the roof — and then through the floor — of a house in Naples, Fla. The homeowner, whose son was home alone during the incident but was unharmed, is suing the space administration for property damages and emotional anguish.

“Space debris is a real and serious issue because of the increase in space traffic in recent years,” Mica Nguyen Worthy, the family’s attorney, said in a statement. “My clients are seeking adequate compensation to account for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives. They are grateful that no one sustained physical injuries from this incident, but a ‘near miss’ situation such as this could have been catastrophic.”

The debris came from 5,800-pound pallet of batteries tossed from the International Space Station in March 2021. While NASA believed the whole pallet would burn up when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere, which occurred over the Gulf of Mexico on March 8, the event was deemed an “uncontrolled reentry.”