Following a space junk projectile crash into a Florida home, NASA filed a lawsuit

A US family is seeking more than $80,000 from NASA after a small piece of debris fell from space and smashed through the roof of a Florida home, a law firm said Friday.Law firm Cranfield Sumner said in a statement that as space traffic grows, so does the problem of space debris, and NASA's response could set a precedent for future claims. On March 8, an object weighing just 700 grams crashed into Alejandro Otero's home in Naples, Florida, blowing a hole in the roof.

NASA later confirmed that it was part of a pallet of spent batteries released as debris from the International Space Station in 2021. Instead of disintegrating completely before falling to Earth, a section remained intact when it re-entered the atmosphere, the US space agency said.

Otero's son was in the house at the time of impact, according to the law firm, which said NASA has six months to respond to its claim."My clients are seeking adequate compensation to account for the stress and impact that this event had on their lives," said lawyer Mica Nguyen Worthy.

"They are grateful that no one sustained physical injuries from this incident, but a near miss' situation such as this could have been catastrophic. "Can cause serious injury or death."

NASA did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.