Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
J002E3 is an object in space which is thought to be the S-IVB third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket. It was discovered on September 3, 2002, by amateur astronomer Bill Yeung . Initially thought to be an asteroid , it has since been tentatively identified as the third stage of Apollo 12 Saturn V based on spectrographic evidence consistent ...
J002E3 discovery images taken on September 3, 2002. J002E3 is in the circle. Defunct space probes and final stages of rockets can end up in near-Earth orbits around the Sun. Examples of such artificial near-Earth objects include a Tesla Roadster used as dummy payload in a 2018 rocket test [171] and the Kepler space telescope. [172]
The S-IVB evolved from the upper stage of the Saturn I rocket (the S-IV) and was the first stage of the Saturn V to be designed. The S-IV used a cluster of six RL-10 engines but used the same fuels as the S-IVB – liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
Sine we figured out what it is, the name J002E3 is a bit of a distraction. The S-IVB-507 article could talk about the part's manufacture, testing, and flight as well as its re-discovery as J002E3. It would also be more appropriate then to include pictures of S-IVB-507 from a time when it was much closer to the camera.
In 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) SELENE lunar probe obtained several photographs showing evidence of Moon landings. [2] On the left are two photographs taken on the lunar surface by astronauts on August 2, 1971 during the third Apollo 15 moonwalk at station 9A near Hadley Rille.
The artificial origin has been confirmed in other cases. In September 2002, astronomers found an object designated J002E3. The object was on a temporary satellite orbit around Earth, leaving for a solar orbit in June 2003. Calculations showed that it was also on a solar orbit before 2002, but was close to Earth in 1971.
The object would be discovered by Canadian amateur astronomer Bill Yeung on September 3, 2002, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) would determine that J002E3, was "the first known case of an object being captured by the Earth". [68] J002E3's orbital path was such that JPL calculated that it would leave Earth orbit again in June 2003.
Similarities between the discoveries of 6Q0B44E and J002E3, thought to be part of the Apollo 12 rocket, led some astronomers to speculate that 6Q0B44E may be another relic of human space exploration which has returned to Earth orbit. However, no space mission has been identified as the source of 6Q0B44E.