JPL Helps Confirm ‘Near-Earth Object’ Is Rocket Booster Launched in 1966

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and colleagues have concluded that an object detected floating in space not far from Earth three months ago, which was initially believed to be an asteroid, is actually the upper stage of a moon rocket launched in the 1960s, the institution announced Wednesday.

Researchers at JPL’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, or CNEOS, have analyzed data from a NASA-operated telescope in Hawaii and determined that the object, previously designated 2020 SO, is no space rock, JPL said in a written statement. It’s the leftover upper stage from a Centaur rocket used to launch the ill-fated moon probe Surveyor 2 in 1966.

Astronomers at the Pan-STARRS1 survey telescope in Hawaii first spotted the object in September, and it was initially suspected to be an asteroid, according to JPL. But researchers from CNEOS quickly noticed the object had a highly unusual orbit which had brought it close to Earth several times in recent decades, arousing further interest.

Upon retracing the object’s path through space, scientists determined that it may have actually originated from the Earth in the mid-1960s, CNEOS  Director Paul Chodas said in a written statement.

“One of the possible paths for 2020 SO brought the object very close to Earth and the Moon in late September 1966” he said. “It was like a eureka moment when a quick check of launch dates for lunar missions showed a match with the Surveyor 2 mission.”

Surveyor 2 made it to the moon, but ultimately crashed on its surface on Sept. 23, 1966, after one of its thrusters failed,” according to a JPL statement. “The spent Centaur upper-stage rocket, meanwhile, sailed past the Moon and disappeared into an unknown orbit about the Sun.”

To help confirm the identity of 2020 SO, University of Arizona researchers on Tuesday managed to image another known similar Centaur rocket booster that had been used to launch a satellite in 1971 and collect information about its spectrum, JPL said. CNEOS was then able to compare the spectrum to that of 2020 SO and confirm a match.

“This conclusion was the result of a tremendous team effort,” said Prof. Vishnu Reddy of the University of Arizona, who led the Arizona-based research team. “We were finally able to solve this mystery because of the great work of Pan-STARRS, Paul Chodas and the team at CNEOS, [Large Binocular Telescope], [Infrared Telescope Facility] and the observations around the world.”

The booster made its closest approach to Earth on Tuesday and is now making its way back into the darkness of space.

“As NASA-funded telescopes survey the skies for asteroids that could pose an impact threat to Earth, the ability to distinguish between natural and artificial objects is valuable as nations continue to explore and more artificial objects find themselves in orbit around the Sun,” according to the JPL statement. “Astronomers will continue to observe this particular relic from the early Space Age until it’s gone.”

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