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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 temporarily orbiting Earth is the Centaur upper stage of this 54-year-old rocket. , not an asteroid after all, astronomers confirmed Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Observations from a telescope in Hawaii determined its identity, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Convair / General Dynamics Atlas of Astronautics 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 made by a telescope in Hawaii determined 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 top asteroid expert Paul Chodas quickly suspected that it was the Centaur upper rocket stage from Surveyor 2, a moon landing mission that failed in 1966. Size estimates had placed it within the reach of the ancient Centaur, which was approximately 32 feet (10 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter.
Chodas was proven just after a team led by Vishnu Reddy from the University of Arizona used an infrared telescope in Hawaii to observe not only the mystery object, but – just Tuesday – a 1971 Centaur still in orbit. around the Earth. The data in the images match.
“Today’s news was super gratifying!” Chodas said via email. “It was teamwork that closed this puzzle.”
The object officially known as 2020 SO entered a large unbalanced orbit around Earth last month and, on Tuesday, made its closest approach to just over 50,476 kilometers. It will leave the neighborhood in March and return to its own orbit around the sun. His next comeback: 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. all, confirmed the astronomers Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Observations made by a telescope in Hawaii confirmed his identity, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA in Pasadena, California. (Convair / General Dynamics Atlas of Astronautics Negative Collection / San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)
False asteroid? NASA expert identifies mysterious object as old rocket
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Quote: NASA: Mystery object is 54-year-old rocket, not an asteroid (December 3, 2020) retrieved December 3, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-12-nasa-mystery-year-old- rocket- asteroid.html
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