Officials originally planned to place pallets of the old batteries inside a series of Japanese supply freighters for controlled, destructive reentries over the ocean. But due to a series of delays, the final cargo pallet of old batteries missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries to make an unguided reentry.
NASA incorrectly believed the batteries would completely burn up during the return through the atmosphere.
Pretty solid case from the home owner. Per the treaty, the agency responsible for the space objects is liable; NASA fucked up in assuming it would burn up but it didn’t. What if this had hit someone and killed them?
Pretty solid case from the home owner. Per the treaty, the agency responsible for the space objects is liable; NASA fucked up in assuming it would burn up but it didn’t. What if this had hit someone and killed them?
In case you went ‘Space Freighters!?’ like me, the JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-9 is the last supply freighter in question.
Those must have been some pretty impressive batteries to survive re-entry.
It was a pretty solid chunk of inconel that went through the roof. It was probably some sort of mounting hardware for the batteries.