ilan
11-29-2020, 01:54 PM
Is Earth’s new mini-moon a 60s-era rocket booster?
Eddie Irizarry and Deborah Byrd in SPACE | November 23, 2020
A mysterious object discovered in September has now become a new mini-moon for Earth. It appears to be a lost-and-found 60s-era rocket from the Surveyor 2 moon mission, launched from Earth more than 50 years ago.
https://earthsky.org/upl/2020/09/2020-SO-60s-era-rocket-booster-800.gif
On September 17, 2020, astronomers spotted an object on approach to Earth. They assigned it an asteroid label: 2020 SO. Orbit models quickly showed, however, that both the low speed and trajectory of the approaching object were unusual. The models also showed that Earth would capture this object – temporarily – as a new mini-moon. And, on November 8, Earth did capture this object. Now, following a three-month analysis of its motion, NASA has confirmed the object is likely no natural object at all. Instead, it appears to be a relic of the early Space Age, a Centaur upper-stage rocket booster, once called America’s workhorse in space. This particular rocket might be the one that launched the ill-fated Surveyor 2 spacecraft toward the moon in 1966.
The lost rocket, if that’s what it is, is expected to remain a captive of Earth from October 2020 until March 2021.
It appears to have been pushed from its original trajectory by a small but continuous pressure from sunlight.
It won’t be the first time Earth has captured a mini-moon. But it’s an awesome story of a lost-and-found rocket, originally launched from Earth more than 50 years ago.
By the way, 2020 SO will come extremely close to Earth – about 30,000 miles (50,000 km or 0.13 of the average lunar distance) on December. Virtual Telescope (see below) will be showing this intriguing object live a few hours before its flyby: the live feed is scheduled for November 30, starting at 5 p.m. EST (22:00 UTC).
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https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2020/11/23/2020-so-extremely-close-encounter-asteroid-or-surveyor-2-rocket-booster-online-observations-30-nov-2020/
Eddie Irizarry and Deborah Byrd in SPACE | November 23, 2020
A mysterious object discovered in September has now become a new mini-moon for Earth. It appears to be a lost-and-found 60s-era rocket from the Surveyor 2 moon mission, launched from Earth more than 50 years ago.
https://earthsky.org/upl/2020/09/2020-SO-60s-era-rocket-booster-800.gif
On September 17, 2020, astronomers spotted an object on approach to Earth. They assigned it an asteroid label: 2020 SO. Orbit models quickly showed, however, that both the low speed and trajectory of the approaching object were unusual. The models also showed that Earth would capture this object – temporarily – as a new mini-moon. And, on November 8, Earth did capture this object. Now, following a three-month analysis of its motion, NASA has confirmed the object is likely no natural object at all. Instead, it appears to be a relic of the early Space Age, a Centaur upper-stage rocket booster, once called America’s workhorse in space. This particular rocket might be the one that launched the ill-fated Surveyor 2 spacecraft toward the moon in 1966.
The lost rocket, if that’s what it is, is expected to remain a captive of Earth from October 2020 until March 2021.
It appears to have been pushed from its original trajectory by a small but continuous pressure from sunlight.
It won’t be the first time Earth has captured a mini-moon. But it’s an awesome story of a lost-and-found rocket, originally launched from Earth more than 50 years ago.
By the way, 2020 SO will come extremely close to Earth – about 30,000 miles (50,000 km or 0.13 of the average lunar distance) on December. Virtual Telescope (see below) will be showing this intriguing object live a few hours before its flyby: the live feed is scheduled for November 30, starting at 5 p.m. EST (22:00 UTC).
_____________________________________
https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2020/11/23/2020-so-extremely-close-encounter-asteroid-or-surveyor-2-rocket-booster-online-observations-30-nov-2020/