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Spotted by: Liesbeth den Toom
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Marketing and Advertising
On March 8, a piece of space debris plunged through a roof in Naples, FL, ripped through two floors and (fortunately) missed the son of homeowner Alejandro Otero. On Tuesday, NASA confirmed the results of its analysis of the incident. As suspected, its a piece of equipment dumped from the International Space Station (ISS) three years ago. NASAs investigation of the object at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral confirmed it was a piece of the EP-9 support equipment used to mount batteries onto a cargo pallet, which the ISS robotic arm dropped on March 11, 2021. The haul, made up of discarded nickel-hydrogen batteries, was expected to orbit Earth between two to four years (it split the difference, lasting almost exactly three) before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere, as NASA predicted at the time. Not quite. The roof-piercing debris was described as a stanchion from NASA flight support equipment used to mount the batteries onto the cargo pallet. Made of the metal alloy Inconel, the object weighs 1.6 lbs and measures 4 inches tall and 1.6 inches in diameter. Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples. Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son. Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? Ive left messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024 Otero told Fort Meyers CBS affiliate WINK-TV that he was on vacation when his son told him that an object had pierced their roof. I was shaking, he said. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage. Im super grateful that nobody got hurt. NASA says it will investigate the equipment dumps jettison and re-entry to try to figure out why the object slammed into Oteros home instead of disintegrating into flames. NASA specialists use engineering models to estimate how objects heat up and break apart during atmospheric re-entry, the space agency explained in a news release. These models require detailed input parameters and are regularly updated when debris is found to have survived atmospheric re-entry to the ground. Most space junk moves extremely fast, reaching up to 18,000 mph, according to NASA. It explains, Due to the rate of speed and volume of debris in LEO, current and future space-based services, explorations, and operations pose a safety risk to people and property in space and on Earth.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-confirms-its-space-trash-pierced-florida-mans-roof-204056957.html?src=rss
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Nearly 11 years after it first showed off its current humanoid robot, Boston Dynamics is retiring Atlas. The DARPA-funded robot was designed with search and rescue missions in mind, with the idea that it would be able to enter areas that were unsafe for humans to carry out a range of tasks. However, Atlas became a bit of a star thanks to videos showing off its slick dance moves and impressive feats of strength, agility and balance. Fittingly, Atlas is trotting off into the sunset with one final YouTube video. "For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leapt over technical barriers in the field," the YouTube description reads. "Now its time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax." Boston Dynamics' farewell to Atlas doesn't just show some of the cool things the robot can do. It's a bit of a blooper reel as well. Along with hurling a toolbag and leaping between platforms, Atlas slips, trips and falls a bunch of times in the clip oddly enough, that makes it seem more human. Boston Dynamics of course has more commercially successful robots in its lineup, including Spot. It's likely not the end of the line for the company's humanoid robots entirely, though. "Take a look back at everything weve accomplished with the Atlas platform to date," reads the description on the farewell video. Those last two words suggest Boston Dynamics isn't quite done with that side of robotics yet. Engadget has contacted the company for details about its future humanoid robot development plans. For now, it seems Atlas could be looking for a Wednesday afternoon dance partner at a robot retirement home.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boston-dynamics-sends-atlas-to-the-robot-retirement-home-184157729.html?src=rss
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