The mystery is finally over – the space object captured by Earth’s bit Rabbit is really a rocket booster from the 1960s. NASA Sure.
On Wednesday, the state-run space agency said “2020 S.O.” There is no such thing as a known object Star, But also a part of the center rocket booster of the Surveyor 2 spacecraft, which launched towards The moon In 1966.
“Due to the extreme unconsciousness of this object budget [Center for Near-Earth Object Studies] It was a challenging thing to predict, ”said Vishnu Reddy, an associate professor and lunar scientist at the University of Arizona, Department of Lunar and Interior. Statement. “We had color observations with the Large Binicular Telescope or LBT which suggested that 2020 SO was not a planet.”
This 1964 photo shows a rocket at the top of the centimeter before matching the Atlantis booster. A similar centaur was used two years later at the launch of “Surveyor 2”. Credit: NASA
“This result was the result of a tremendous effort by the team,” Reddy added. “We were finally able to solve this mystery because of the great work of the team at Pan Stars, Paul Chodas and CNES, LBT. [Infrared Telescope Facility], And worldwide inspections. ”
On Tuesday, the rocket booster made its closest brush to Earth when it came within 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) of Earth. According to Aunt Gianluca, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
NASA has posted a video of the 2020 SO orbiting the Earth.
Unfortunately, Survey 2 never completed its journey, colliding with the moon on September 23, 1966. However, the Centaur Booster “passed over the moon and disappeared into an unknown or rabbit about the sun,” NASA said earlier.
The rocket booster was launched by the Pan-Stars survey on September 17, 2020 and was announced two days later.
2020 SO initially “flowed” slowly into the earth Mountainous areas It will remain there for about four months on November 8, 2020, and in March 2021, before going into the orbit around the sun.
