US space agency Nasa confirmed that an object that crashed into a home in Florida earlier this month was part of the International Space Station (ISS), the BBC reports.
The metal object was jettisoned from the orbiting outpost in March 2021, Nasa said on Monday after analyzing the sample at the Kennedy Space Center.
The 0.7kg metal object tore through two layers of ceiling after re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
Homeowner Alejandro Otero said his son was nearly injured by the impact.
Nasa said the object was part of some 5,800lbs of hardware that was dumped by the station after it had new lithium-ion batteries installed.
“The hardware was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere on March 8, 2024. However, a piece of hardware survived and impacted a home in Naples, Florida,” the agency said.
The debris was determined to be part of a stanchion used to mount batteries on a cargo pallet.
