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This September 20, 1966 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum shows an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket on the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A mysterious object in temporary orbit around the Earth is the Centaurus upper stage of this 54-year-old rocket, it’s not an asteroid after all, astronomers confirmed on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Observations from a telescope in Hawaii confirmed its identity. according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Convair / General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection / San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)
A mysterious object temporarily orbiting Earth is a 54-year-old rocket – not an asteroid after all, astronomers confirmed Wednesday.
Observations from a telescope in Hawaii confirmed his identity, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The object was classified as an asteroid after its discovery in September. But NASA’s leading asteroid expert, Paul Chodas, quickly suspected it was the upper stage of Surveyor 2’s Centaur rocket, a failed 1966 moon landing mission. Size estimates had placed it in the old Centaur range, which was about 32 feet (10 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter.
Chodas was demonstrated soon after a team led by Vishnu Reddy of the University of Arizona used an infrared telescope in Hawaii to observe not only the mysterious object, but, on Tuesday, a 1971 centaur still in orbit around the Land. The image data matched.
“Today’s news was super gratifying!” Chodas said via email. “It was teamwork that ended this puzzle.”
The object formally known as 2020 SO entered a wide, lopsided orbit around Earth last month and, on Tuesday, came closer to just over 31,000 miles (50,476 kilometers). It will depart from the neighborhood in March, resuming its orbit around the sun. His next return: 2036.
In this August 13, 1965 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum, technicians work on an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A mysterious object in temporary orbit around the Earth is an upper-stage Centaur 7 rocket, not an asteroid after all, astronomers confirmed on Wednesday, Dec.2, 2020. Observations from a telescope in Hawaii confirmed its identity, according to the Jet Propulsion NASA’s Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Convair / General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection / San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)
False asteroid? NASA expert identifies the mysterious object as an old rocket
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Quote: NASA: Mystery Object Is 54-Year-Old Rocket, Not Asteroid (2020, December 3) recovered December 3, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-12-nasa-mystery-year-old -rocket- asteroid.html
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