The long-lost Apollo 10 lunar module may have been found



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Scientists think they have located the Apollo lunar module Snoopy-50 years after his release in space.

Nick Howes, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, said he was "98% convinced" that he and his team had found it.

But until someone recovers it, "we can not be 100% sure," he told Sky News.

Part of the lunar mission with crew Apollo 10, LM Snoopy and control module Charlie Brown launched in May 1969 – a "dress rehearsal" for the first landing on the moon.

After reaching lunar orbit, Commander Thomas Stafford and LM pilot Eugene Cernan lowered Snoopy at about 50,000 feet above the surface of the moon, where they examined the sea of ​​tranquility before returning to the control module.

Snoopy was then sent on a trajectory beyond the Moon, in a heliocentric orbit, never to be seen again.

This successful test allowed Neil Armstrong's famous first steps on the Apollo 11 mission two months later.

He also left a solitary capsule float aimlessly in space.

NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford touches the nose of mascot Snoopy to wish him good luck (via NASA)

When Howes started looking for the module in 2011, he calculated that his chances of finding it were 235 million against one.

That did not stop him though: he and a team of astronomers analyzed terabytes of radar data until, last year, they discovered what they thought they were. Snoopy.

"Until someone really approaches the situation and gets a detailed radar profile, we can not be sure," said Howes, according to Sky News.

"We have to wait a few years for this to come back, but once it comes back, the idea is that we will get a really detailed picture of the thing," he continued. "It would be a fantastic feat for science."

But why spend time, energy and money trying to find a piece of missing metal?

"From a spatial archeology point of view, it's interesting," explained Howes. "It's the only flight that stays up there. … As a piece of history, a historical moment, it is a unique artifact. "

At the Cheltenham Science Festival in England, Howes revealed that his "ideal candidate" Snoopy House.

"I'd love to have Elon Musk and his wonderful spaceship [to] grab it and make it fall, "he said.

SpaceX is a little busy at the moment, but I'm sure the billionaire entrepreneur could find time for a side project.

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