Fake asteroid? - NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket from failed moon-landing mission

Instead of a cosmic rock, the newly discovered object appears to be an old rocket from a failed moon-landing mission 54 years ago that's finally making its way back home, according to NASA's leading asteroid expert. Observations should help nail its identity.

"I'm pretty jazzed about this," Paul Chodas told The Associated Press. "It's been a hobby of mine to find one of these and draw such a link, and I've been doing it for decades now."

Chodas speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually the Centaur upper rocket stage that successfully propelled NASA's Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. The lander ended up crashing into the moon after one of its thrusters failed to ignite on the way there. The rocket, meanwhile, swept past the moon and into orbit around the sun as intended junk, never to be seen again - until perhaps now.

Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket from failed moon-landing mission

Last month in Hawaii a mystery object was discovered by telescope. The telescope was watching for planet killers heading our way. The object was entered into the International Astronomical Union's data base.

The story was that next month an asteroid was to be captured by Earth's gravity and become our new mini-moon. Until Paul Chodas noticed the object had an almost circular orbit around our Sun, just like Earth.

He noticed the object is on the same plane as Earth and moving a lot slower than most asteroids are when they travel past Earth. Everything Paul noticed points to it coming from Earth.

I think it could also point to an intelligently guided object. That is moving into an Earth orbit after being in a solar orbit. This is a lot less likely than space junk, of course.

As this object travels closer to the Earth astronomers will monitor it. They should be able to tell if it's a light, hollow object like a rocket or a heavy, solid object like an asteroid.

Paul believes that dozens of charted asteroids are not really space rocks at all, just junk from Earth.

I think there are more than just two possibilities.

They should go out to that old rocket part and investigate to see if any changes in it occurred from being out in space for so long a time. They know what it originally looked like and it has been outside of earths fields for fifty years. I wonder if any kind of junk built on it over time

a reply to: rickymouse

It would be cool if we could tow it to the ISS and study it.

Could be aliens living on it for real.

a reply to: rickymouse

Exactly! Science might learn a LOT by closely examining this thing, a whole LOT of things! It could never be brought back to Earth, but maybe they could send something like an X-37 (or similar) up to examine it. It's been in space longer than just about any other man made object, and it's been further from Earth than any other spacecraft (save for the deep space probes like Voyager I & II, Pioneer 10 & 11, etc which humans will never see again). The Mars program could gain valuable knowledge about long term effects.

Interesting development!

VGER is returning home.

Cheers

If ever an Alien ship was going to enter orbit this would be the year

Definitely worth intercepting and studying this thing.

If it's indeed a booster stage as suggested, it'll give us a glimpse at long-term space effects that we're not going to get very often.

However... for something we flug off as scrap, to be at the right trajectory and speed to boomerang into Earth orbit 54 years later, seems too much of a coincidence. Either it's the mother of billiards shots, or it's not what they're thinking.

a reply to: gb540

I'm on the VGER bus.

Thanks for the heads up F2d5thCavv2.

a reply to: gb540

Definitely worth intercepting and studying this thing.

They said it is expected to go into orbit of the earth for several years!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Exactly! Science might learn a LOT by closely examining this thing, a whole LOT of things! It could never be brought back to Earth, but maybe they could send something like an X-37 (or similar) up to examine it. It's been in space longer than just about any other man made object, and it's been further from Earth than any other spacecraft (save for the deep space probes like Voyager I & II, Pioneer 10 & 11, etc which humans will never see again). The Mars program could gain valuable knowledge about long term effects.

Interesting development!

Look at comets, they burn off some chemistry flying through space when they get close to the sun, then circle around and come back fully loaded with chemicals to burn off again. Where do they get that stuff from? I mean, the moon is in our magnetic field for protection, but this was not, we have sent stuff to Mars, but it never has come back and landed yet so we can observe if anything is on the ship's outside.

a reply to: rickymouse

originally posted by: rickymouse
They should go out to that old rocket part and investigate to see if any changes in it occurred from being out in space for so long a time. They know what it originally looked like and it has been outside of earths fields for fifty years. I wonder if any kind of junk built on it over time

Do you mean like star trek 'veger'

They are just saying its old space junk.
it could be any think.
Dead space ship from a past civilization.
we will here no more from this!

It's a cool story. I was just reading a few days age, a bit about this car sized "asteroid" that was estimated to cross our path/or hit us.. in early November.

originally posted by: buddha

originally posted by: rickymouse
They should go out to that old rocket part and investigate to see if any changes in it occurred from being out in space for so long a time. They know what it originally looked like and it has been outside of earths fields for fifty years. I wonder if any kind of junk built on it over time

Do you mean like star trek 'veger'

They are just saying its old space junk.
it could be any think.
Dead space ship from a past civilization.
we will here no more from this!

If it was something from a civilization many thousands to millions of years ago, they probably would not tell us. There was a brass or gold jet shaped artifact found in million year old coal. I can understand people, or hominids could have done that millions of years ago....but it looked almost exactly like some sort of army jet.

a reply to: vonclod That was a good show. I have always liked shows like Star Treks and Stargates. When I was a kid, I built a big model of the enterprise, it was an expensive model to buy at the time, I bet I paid five bucks for the kit. It was the one that was about two feet long, not a small model at all. Came with the glue and everything, I had my own paints, it may have had some with it though, expensive kits sometimes had everything. I never bought the prepainted ones, that was cheating.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: vonclod That was a good show. I have always liked shows like Star Treks and Stargates. When I was a kid, I built a big model of the enterprise, it was an expensive model to buy at the time, I bet I paid five bucks for the kit. It was the one that was about two feet long, not a small model at all. Came with the glue and everything, I had my own paints, it may have had some with it though, expensive kits sometimes had everything. I never bought the prepainted ones, that was cheating.

It was a fantastic plot, and movie for sure!!

Also, love the model story I have 2, 1/350 scale kits to build, one is the original Enterprise, and one is the Klingon ship, lighting kits for both..big, 36" for the Enterprise.

I decided to get back into model building, mostly automotive, with being stuck at home for months. I enjoy the painting too, it intimidates me the most(because I'm very fussy) but, the most rewarding to get right.

originally posted by: vonclod

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: vonclod That was a good show. I have always liked shows like Star Treks and Stargates. When I was a kid, I built a big model of the enterprise, it was an expensive model to buy at the time, I bet I paid five bucks for the kit. It was the one that was about two feet long, not a small model at all. Came with the glue and everything, I had my own paints, it may have had some with it though, expensive kits sometimes had everything. I never bought the prepainted ones, that was cheating.

It was a fantastic plot, and movie for sure!!

Also, love the model story

I have 2, 1/350 scale kits to build, one is the original Enterprise, and one is the Klingon ship, lighting kits for both..big, 36" for the Enterprise.

I decided to get back into model building, mostly automotive, with being stuck at home for months. I enjoy the painting too, it intimidates me the most(because I'm very fussy) but, the most rewarding to get right.

How much did the enterprise model you have cost nowadays?

Pretty cool, maybe later I'll try to track it.

found the latest coordinates here. : )
www.minorplanetcenter.net...

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: vonclod

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: vonclod That was a good show. I have always liked shows like Star Treks and Stargates. When I was a kid, I built a big model of the enterprise, it was an expensive model to buy at the time, I bet I paid five bucks for the kit. It was the one that was about two feet long, not a small model at all. Came with the glue and everything, I had my own paints, it may have had some with it though, expensive kits sometimes had everything. I never bought the prepainted ones, that was cheating.

It was a fantastic plot, and movie for sure!!

Also, love the model story

I have 2, 1/350 scale kits to build, one is the original Enterprise, and one is the Klingon ship, lighting kits for both..big, 36" for the Enterprise.

I decided to get back into model building, mostly automotive, with being stuck at home for months. I enjoy the painting too, it intimidates me the most(because I'm very fussy) but, the most rewarding to get right.

How much did the enterprise model you have cost nowadays?

The company is called Polar Lights, they run about 140-ish USD, they also do the movie version, a bit more complicated kit with the paint..frightening really..lol The lighting kit was about 100, for the original version, it has motors and rotating lights in the nacelle, the movie version lighting kit might be a bit less, with nothing motorised.

Lots of stuff on youtube regarding these kits. Here is one of the refit(movie version) This builder went above and beyond the stock kit and lights

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: vonclod That was a good show. I have always liked shows like Star Treks and Stargates. When I was a kid, I built a big model of the enterprise, it was an expensive model to buy at the time, I bet I paid five bucks for the kit. It was the one that was about two feet long, not a small model at all. Came with the glue and everything, I had my own paints, it may have had some with it though, expensive kits sometimes had everything. I never bought the prepainted ones, that was cheating.

I used to make the Airfix and Revell ones when i was young they are super expensive now i wish i hung on to some of them now especially one of the last i made the space shuttle .

Revell 1/144 Launch Tower, space shuttle & booster rockets Plastic Model kit £ 90+ 32 postage
I used to make wine and beer and sell it to pay for my habit back then