- In late 2020, Earth gained a new visitor in the form of what was originally thought to be a natural piece of space debris, such as a small asteroid.
- The object turned out to be a rejected rocket stage that was launched half a century ago and was once again absorbed by the Earth’s gravitational pull.
- Now, upon completing the final loop of our planet, the object will soon be launched back into space and is unlikely to visit our planet again.
You may have missed the news last year (you know, due to the global pandemic), but Earth intercepted a mysterious object in November. When astronomers first saw it, they thought it was a space rock of some kind and, although it was not in a collision course with our planet, it was destined to orbit the Earth. at least for a while.
As it turned out, the object was not a space rock or a comet, but a piece of artificial debris. The object, a rocket launched more than half a century ago, was part of the Surveyor 2 mission to the Moon, and since then the remains have been hung on our planet. Now, with once again around our world to complete, the “mini-Moon” will soon return to space, and we are unlikely to find it again.
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According to EarthSky, the rocket first completed a very close overflight of Earth before moving away from our planet to be captured once again. This last loop will be the last, as its momentum will be enough to allow it to escape the gravity of the Earth and embark on an adventure around the Sun.
The concept of “mini-Moon” is not exactly science fiction and, as we know many small rocky bodies hanging around the neck of the forest, it seemed entirely possible that the object was a space rock. If it had been like that, it would have been a real miniature (and temporary) moon, but the fact that they were just man-made rubbish means it doesn’t qualify for that label.
Astronomers first suspected that the object was created by man when they realized that its path around the Sun appeared to be very similar to that of Earth. It completed one orbit every 387 Earth days, which is virtually identical to the orbit of our planet, and its incredibly slow speed suggested it was not an asteroid. Now that we know what it really is, all of these clues make a lot more sense.
Soon, however, it will disappear. It is likely that the object will pass through Earth for the last time in early February and leave us for good. Now everyone says goodbye.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games over the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, portable devices, smartphones and future technology. Most recently, Mike worked as a technical editor at The Daily Dot and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com and countless other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is only second to his gambling addiction.