The jig may be up for an B次元官网网址渁steroidB次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 expected to get nabbed by EarthB次元官网网址檚 gravity and become a mini moon next month.

Instead of a cosmic rock, the newly discovered object appears to be an old rocket from a failed moon-landing mission 54 years ago thatB次元官网网址檚 finally making its way back home, according to NASAB次元官网网址檚 leading asteroid expert. Observations should help nail its identity.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 pretty jazzed about this,B次元官网网址� Paul Chodas told The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a hobby of mine to find one of these and draw such a link, and IB次元官网网址檝e been doing it for decades now.B次元官网网址�

Chodas speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually the Centaur upper rocket stage that successfully propelled NASAB次元官网网址檚 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 B次元官网网址� until perhaps now.

A telescope in Hawaii last month discovered the mystery object heading our way while doing a search intended to protect our planet from doomsday rocks. The object promptly was added to the International Astronomical UnionB次元官网网址檚 Minor Planet CenterB次元官网网址檚 tally of asteroids and comets found in our solar system, just 5,000 shy of the 1 million mark.

The object is estimated to be roughly 26 feet (8 metres) based on its brightness. ThatB次元官网网址檚 in the ballpark of the old Centaur, which would be less than 32 feet (10 metres) long including its engine nozzle and 10 feet (3 metres) in diameter.

What caught ChodasB次元官网网址� attention is that its near-circular orbit around the sun is quite similar to EarthB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址� unusual for an asteroid.

B次元官网网址淔lag number one,B次元官网网址� said Chodas, who is director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASAB次元官网网址檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The object is also in the same plane as Earth, not tilted above or below, another red flag. Asteroids usually zip by at odd angles. Lastly, itB次元官网网址檚 approaching Earth at 1,500 mph (2,400 kph), slow by asteroid standards.

As the object gets closer, astronomers should be able to better chart its orbit and determine how much itB次元官网网址檚 pushed around by the radiation and thermal effects of sunlight. If itB次元官网网址檚 an old Centaur B次元官网网址� essentially a light empty can B次元官网网址� it will move differently than a heavy space rock less susceptible to outside forces.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 how astronomers normally differentiate between asteroids and space junk like abandoned rocket parts, since both appear merely as moving dots in the sky. There likely are dozens of fake asteroids out there, but their motions are too imprecise or jumbled to confirm their artificial identity, said Chodas.

Sometimes itB次元官网网址檚 the other way around.

A mystery object in 1991, for example, was determined by Chodas and others to be a regular asteroid rather than debris, even though its orbit around the sun resembled EarthB次元官网网址檚.

Even more exciting, Chodas in 2002 found what he believes was the leftover Saturn V third stage from 1969B次元官网网址檚 Apollo 12, the second moon landing by NASA astronauts. He acknowledges the evidence was circumstantial, given the objectB次元官网网址檚 chaotic one-year orbit around Earth. It never was designated as an asteroid, and left EarthB次元官网网址檚 orbit in 2003.

The latest objectB次元官网网址檚 route is direct and much more stable, bolstering his theory.

B次元官网网址淚 could be wrong on this. I donB次元官网网址檛 want to appear overly confident,B次元官网网址� Chodas said. B次元官网网址淏ut itB次元官网网址檚 the first time, in my view, that all the pieces fit together with an actual known launch.B次元官网网址�

And heB次元官网网址檚 happy to note that itB次元官网网址檚 a mission that he followed in 1966, as a teenager in Canada.

Asteroid hunter Carrie Nugent of Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts, said ChodasB次元官网网址� conclusion is B次元官网网址渁 good oneB次元官网网址� based on solid evidence. SheB次元官网网址檚 the author of the 2017 book B次元官网网址淎steroid Hunters.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淪ome more data would be useful so we can know for sure,B次元官网网址� she said in an email. B次元官网网址淎steroid hunters from around the world will continue to watch this object to get that data. IB次元官网网址檓 excited to see how this develops!B次元官网网址�

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for AstrophysicsB次元官网网址� Jonathan McDowell noted there have been B次元官网网址渕any, many embarrassing incidents of objects in deep orbit B次元官网网址� getting provisional asteroid designations for a few days before it was realized they were artificial.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 seldom clear-cut.

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Last year, a British amateur astronomer, Nick Howes, announced that an asteroid in solar orbit was likely the abandoned lunar module from NASAB次元官网网址檚 Apollo 10, a rehearsal for the Apollo 11 moon landing. While this object is likely artificial, Chodas and others are skeptical of the connection.

Skepticism is good, Howes wrote in an email. B次元官网网址淚t hopefully will lead to more observations when itB次元官网网址檚 next in our neck of the woodsB次元官网网址� in the late 2030s.

ChodasB次元官网网址� latest target of interest was passed by Earth in their respective laps around the sun in 1984 and 2002. But it was too dim to see from 5 million miles (8 million kilometres) away, he said.

He predicts the object will spend about four months circling Earth once itB次元官网网址檚 captured in mid-November, before shooting back out into its own orbit around the sun next March.

Chodas doubts the object will slam into Earth B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渁t least not this time around.B次元官网网址�

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical InstituteB次元官网网址檚 Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

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