Earth’s next mini moon could be space junk from the 1960s

Earth is about to have a temporary mini-moon, and this could be space junk. Researchers are tracking an object that looks like it will be captured by Earth’s gravity for a few months this winter before safely returning to the Solar System. It could be a standard asteroid, but some astronomers say the mysterious object’s trajectory indicates it could be part of a rocket from the 1960s.

“I’m quite excited about this,” said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. The Associated Press. Chodas is one of the world’s leading experts on asteroids and has been keeping an eye on the return of space debris for decades, he told the AP

The object was first identified last month by researchers in Hawaii. They called it 2020 SO and designated it as a near-Earth asteroid.

But the object is a bit strange for a typical asteroid. It moves relatively slowly, is in the same plane as Earth, and has an almost circular orbit around the Sun, just like Earth. All of those features are “red flags,” according to Chodas, which could indicate that the object was launched once from Earth.

“That is precisely the type of orbit that a separate rocket stage of a lunar mission would follow once it passes the Moon and escapes into orbit around the Sun. It is unlikely that an asteroid would have evolved into an orbit like this, but not impossible, ”said Chodas. CNN in September.

The object appears to be 26 feet long, about the same size as the upper stage of a Centaur rocket. That, plus its way through the Solar System, makes it a nice complement to the booster rocket that helped launch NASA’s Surveyor 2 mission in 1966. The mission itself was a failure. After it was successfully launched, one of the thrusters aboard the spacecraft malfunctioned, sending it hurtling toward the Moon.

POT

The thruster that launched the unfortunate spacecraft continued past the Moon and into the Solar System. Researchers will be able to determine if 2020 SO is the propellant, and not a space rock once the object gets a little closer. Impellers like this are made of relatively lightweight metal; They will not move in the same way as a dense rock in space.

Whatever the object, it is expected to stay in Earth’s orbit for a few months this winter before continuing on its way. Only a few of these temporarily captured objects (or, informally, mini-moons) have been observed, including one that was around between 2006 and 2008, and another that remained unnoticed for about a year, before departing in March 2020.