- New Taiwan president Lai hails 'glorious' democracy
- New Caledonia separatists defy French efforts to unblock roads
- Timberwolves knock out defending champion Nuggets, Pacers oust Knicks
- Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Iran President Raisi's helicopter found, 'no sign of life'
- Three talking points ahead of 2024 French Open
- 'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Japan Olympic volleyball manga mania
- Timberwolves rally to knock defending champion Nuggets out of NBA playoffs
- London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- Business and Bollywood votes in India election
- Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'
- Mexico aims to be big economic winner from US-China tensions
- Uncertain future for thousands after deadly Brazil floods
- Schauffele makes the putt of his life for first major win
- Wirtz returns to help unbeaten Leverkusen chase history
- Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing
- DeChambeau's powerful putting has him excited for US Open
- Taiwan to swear in new president as China pressure grows
- Atalanta can end 61-year wait for trophy in Europa League final
- Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
- Guardiola casts doubt over long-term Man City future
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
- Pacers shoot down Knicks to reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- Schauffele birdies final hole, captures first major at PGA Championship
- McLaughlin powers to Indy 500 pole in all-Penske front row
- Monaco footballer tapes over LGBTQ badge
- Korda wins sixth LPGA title of year with win at Liberty National
- Pacers put on shooting show to down Knicks, reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- US envoy touts 'potential' of Israel-Saudi deal in Netanyahu talks
- Dominicans vote for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- Brest secure Champions League qualification, PSG win without Mbappe
- Mbappe absent as PSG win final Ligue 1 game
- Still exhausted after arrest, Scheffler closes with 64 at PGA
- Brest secure historic Champions League qualification
- France's Macron calls fresh emergency on New Caledonia unrest
- Taiwan swears in new president as China pressure grows
- Schauffele leads as dramatic PGA back-nine battle begins
- Biden faces silent Gaza protest at Martin Luther King Jr's college
- Ten Hag says Man Utd 'must do everything' to win FA Cup after Premier League flop
- Cannes film follows Egypt feminists on brink of adulthood
- Pep Guardiola: Man City manager addicted to winning
- Jackson wins season opener in Marrakesh with all eyes on Paris
- Things get real as imaginary friend flick 'If' tops N.America box office
- Paris seeks to boost sluggish sales for Paralympic Games
- How a French director pulled off Cannes's crazy Mexican narcos hit
- Man City make case to be ranked as England's greatest-ever team
- Hamdy gives Zamalek second CAF Confederation Cup title
- Rome champion Zverev eyes French Open but wary of Djokovic 'at his best'
- Spain recalls its ambassador to Argentina over 'insult'
- Real Sociedad reach Europa League, Cadiz relegated
NASA collects 'space debris' that crashed into Florida man's home
NASA said Tuesday it was analyzing an object that crashed from the sky into a Florida man's home -- which could well be a piece of debris jettisoned from the International Space Station.
Alejandro Otero of Naples, Florida, posted on X that the item "tore through the roof and went (through) 2 floors" of his house, almost striking his son, on the afternoon of March 8.
He believes it was a piece of a cargo pallet containing old batteries that NASA ground control teams released from the orbital outpost in 2021.
It was supposed to burn up harmlessly over the Earth's atmosphere on March 8, according to official projections. Otero also posted a clip from his home Nest video camera where he said the sound of it crashing through his roof could be heard at 2:34 pm.
"So that's 1934 UTC, which is very consistent with the Space Force estimate of reentry over the Gulf at 1929 UTC," wrote noted astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, in response. "I think you may be right and it's a bit from the reentry of the EP-9 battery pallet."
The news was first reported by local news outlet winknews.com on March 15.
"NASA collected an item in cooperation with the homeowner, and will analyze the object at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as possible to determine its origin," the space agency said in a statement to AFP on Tuesday. "More information will be available once the analysis is complete."
A report by specialist news outlet Ars Technica said while the batteries were owned by NASA, they were attached to a pallet structure launched by Japan's space agency -- potentially complicating liability claims.
Past examples of manmade human space debris hitting Earth include part of a SpaceX Dragon capsule landing on an Australian sheep farm in 2022. Skylab, the United States' first space station, fell on Western Australia.
More recently, China has been criticized by NASA for allowing its giant Long March rockets to fall back to Earth after orbit.
K.Brown--BTB