Space Junk Thought to be Mysterious Object, Passing by Earth Tomorrow

Urian B., Tech Times 01 December 2020, 10:12 am

An object known to be of uncertain origin is now expected to pass by safely past the planet on Tuesday but the truth is, this object is reportedly not a UFO. Astronomers have previously been tracking this particular visitor known as the 2020 SO ever since September when it was initially spotted from the observation station located in Hawaii.

NASA clarifies 'mysterious object'

According to the story by WWLP, the unknown object was originally thought to be another asteroid. NASA scientists have even suggested that this is actually just a piece of space junk that was left over from an earlier US space exploration. According to a NASA official's statement back in a research update on November 12, the object was most likely "not an asteroid."

The statement said that this is probably the Centaur upper stage rocket booster that previously helped lift NASA's very own ill-fated Surveyor 2 spacecraft aimed to reach the Moon back in 1966. NASA officials stated that the 2020 SO's own orbit did not really look like just a typical asteroid as well as much more closely resembled another thing originating from Earth. It was the use of computer modeling that really helped their whole team trace the most likely origin to the previous 1966 launch.

How did 2020 SO come to be

According to NASA's statement, shortly after the initial lift-off, Surveyor 2 that was separated from its own Centaur upper-stage booster just like it was intended. But the control of this spacecraft was then lost just a day later when one of its own thrusters failed to ignite which resulted in a spin.

The spacecraft initially crashed straight into the moon just somewhere southeast of the Copernicus crater back on September 23, 1966. NASA stated that the piece of the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket then sailed straight past the moon and disappeared into unknown orbit about the sun.

'Mysterious object' is 4.5 to 9.1 meters wide

Researchers stated that it was likely that the object actually passed through Earth's own orbit back in the past. The upcoming flyby this Tuesday is said to be relatively close approximately seventh of the distance from the Earth towards the moon. This should be able to give skywatchers a closer look to further confirm or even disprove the known rocket theory.

The object is now believed to be the range of about 15 to 30 feet or around 4.5 meters to 9.1 meters wide. This information is according to NASA's known Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It should be able to fly by quite harmlessly during the earlier hours of Tuesday morning.

Another article by CNet has confirmed this flying object to officially be a piece of space junk in space and is not actually a UFO or unidentified flying object. This object has well been identified back in September of this year. The new information has given this flying space junk the name 2020 SO. It was stated that the 2020 SO can be seen with a telescope. The visual should look like a bright spot of light showing as it travels through the dark of space.

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Written by Urian Buenconsejo