Homeowner Alejandro Otero previously told The Washington Post that he received a panicked call from his son on the day of the incident after he returned home to find a cylindrical piece of charred metal, slightly smaller than a soup can, stuck in his wall and immediately realized “it was from outer space.”
“My clients are seeking full compensation for the stress and impact this incident has had on their lives,” said the family’s lawyer, Micah Nguyen Worthy. news release“If the debris had fallen a few feet in a different direction, serious injuries or even death could have occurred.”
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal claims.
NASA previously Confirmed The 1.6-pound cylindrical object that crashed through the roof of the Otero home was part of a 5,800-pound cargo pallet loaded with old nickel-metal hydride batteries that was released from the International Space Station in March 2021, according to a release.
This piece of space junk was expected to burn up upon re-entering the atmosphere, but somehow it managed to survive, raising concerns that this could lead to more similar incidents in the future.
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“The recent increase in space traffic has made space debris a real and serious problem,” Worthy said.
How NASA responds to the lawsuit could set a legal precedent for how it handles cases involving U.S. citizens and residents, Worthy said. She is calling on NASA to treat the family’s case the same way it does as required by the U.S. Constitution. International Space Law.
In the case of an international accident, the “launching state”, i.e. the state that arranged for the launch of an object or the state into which the object is launched, is responsible for any damage caused by that object. I agreed to pay Millions of dollars in compensation paid out after faulty satellite burns up over Canada
“If this incident had occurred overseas and someone in another country had been harmed by space debris similar to that suffered by Mr. Oteros, the United States certainly would have been liable for damages,” Worthy said.
Worthy did not immediately respond to questions about the claims, including how much the families were seeking. She told Science & Technology: Ars Technical The claim is “in excess of $80,000.”
NASA must respond within six months to the claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which include claims for uninsured property damage, damages for business interruption, damages for emotional and mental distress and third-party assistance costs, she said in a news release.
Praveena Somasundaram and Daniel Wu contributed to this report.