Object temporarily orbiting Earth is 54-year-old rocket, not asteroid: NASA
Using data collected at NASA's Infrared
Telescope Facility (IRTF) and orbit analysis from the Center for Near-Earth
Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists have
confirmed that Near-Earth Object (NEO) 2020 SO is, in fact, a 1960's-Era Centaur rocket
booster.
The object, discovered in September by
astronomers searching for near-Earth asteroids from the NASA-funded Pan-STARRS1
survey telescope on Maui, garnered interest in the planetary science community
due to its size and unusual orbit and was studied by observatories around the
world, according to an official release.
Further analysis of 2020 SO's orbit revealed
the object had come close to Earth a few times over the decades, with one
approach in 1966 bringing it close enough to suggest it may have originated
from Earth. Comparing this data with the history of previous NASA missions,
Paul Chodas, CNEOS director, concluded 2020 SO could be the Centaur upper stage
rocket booster from NASA's ill-fated 1966 Surveyor 2 mission to the Moon. Read More
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