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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

The cylindrical piece of space junk is made of a metallic alloy called Inconel, they added. It weighs 1.6 pounds (0.7 kg) and measures 4 inches (10 centimeters) high by 1.6 inches (4 cm) wide.

That's about $3-4 worth according to this:

https://www.scrapmetalbuyers.com/inconel

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“Things that have been to space” tend to sell for a sizeable premium. Maybe this would too?

I think based on rarity of the event it might be 1k if I could buy it off with documentation.

Probably more from other people that are way more loaded than myself.

The cost of repairing the house, though.

Some collector, somewhere would absolutely love it.

But are you allowed to sell it? I'd think it still belongs to NASA. If an airplane flies over your house and drops an engine into your back yard, you can't just auction it off but have to hand it over to the authorities. Or if someone – accidentally or not – throws his Rolex watch into your window. He'll have to pay for the damage, but the object is still his property.

NASA was disposing of it.

That doesn't matter, in most jurisdictions stealing trash is still stealing. If I'm disposing chemical waste in your backyard, do you automatically become the owner?

How can you steal trash?? You're literally trying to get rid of it?! I am pretty sure you're never going to jail for taking someone else's trash (maybe you can get in trouble for trespassing or something like that, but for stealing?!?).

I think you'd be so hard-pressed in finding a court that would convict someone of "stealing" for having been in the path of trash that was jettisoned through two stories of your home as for the prospect to be infinitesimal

As part of the settlement with NASA over it, I'd try to get to keep it.

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