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Welcome again, Surveyor 2 Centaur rocket booster. We simply bought a new chapter in a bittersweet area saga that includes a fiery launch, a doomed moon mission and a long time of area wanderings.
A rocket booster NASA used to launch the Surveyor 2 lunar lander in 1966 has returned to us for a short-term spin as a mini-moon in orbit round Earth. When scientists noticed it in September, they named it 2020 SO. On Wednesday, NASA introduced the unusual object has been positively recognized because the ’60s booster.
While the booster did its job admirably again in 1966, the lander did not survive a crash touchdown on the moon’s floor.
The booster’s particular orbit across the solar tipped astronomers off that it most likely wasn’t an asteroid, one of many many area rocks that zip round our cosmic neighborhood. Some sleuthing tracked the booster again to close Earth in 1966.
Telescope observations have now revealed the stainless-steel composition of 2020 SO. This cosmic detective work concerned evaluating spectrum information on the enigmatic object with information gathered on a identified Centaur rocker booster that is been floating round in area since 1971. It was a match.
The object has attracted a lot of curiosity as a result of thriller surrounding it and the truth that it was captured into an Earth orbit that makes it a cute little visiting mini-moon. The Virtual Telescope Project livestreamed 2020 SO when it got here in near Earth on Nov. 30.
The Centaur booster will stick round with us for a few months, however is anticipated to proceed its area adventures again in orbit across the solar someday in March 2021. At which level we are able to all say, “Goodnight, Centaur. Goodnight, mini-moon.”
(This story has not been edited by Newslivenation employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)