Nasa has confirmed that an object that crashed into a home in Florida was part of the International Space Station. The 1.6lb metal object had been jettisoned from the ISS in March 2021 and unexpectedly survived re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Homeowner Alejandro Otero’s son narrowly escaped injury when the object crashed through their ceiling. Nasa stated that the object was part of hardware that was supposed to burn up upon re-entry but didn’t. The agency will investigate how the debris managed to survive. This incident highlights the issue of space junk, with recent cases of burning debris from Chinese rockets causing concern. It serves as a reminder of the dangers posed by objects falling back to Earth from space. Thankfully, in this instance, no one was hurt, but it underscores the need for better management of space debris to prevent future incidents.
Vocabulary List:
- Confirmation (noun): The act of establishing the truth or validity of something.
- Jettisoned (adjective or past verb): Disposed of or abandoned as no longer useful or required.
- Re-entry (noun): The action of coming or going in again to a place.
- Survived (verb): Remain alive after the occurrence of an event.
- Debris (noun): Scattered pieces of waste or remains.
- Incident (noun): An event or occurrence.
