Mysterious object that could be 1960s rocket booster will fly past Earth today: how to view it - Fox News

A mysterious space object that has been captured by Earth's orbit and is widely believed to be a rocket booster from the 1960s is now viewable to skygazers as it gets closer to the planet.

Known as 2020 SO, the object is believed to be a part of a Centaur rocket booster from the Surveyor 2 spacecraft, NASA said in November, though that has not been confirmed. .

NASA EXPERT IDS MYSTERY OBJECT AS OLD ROCKET.

This flyby will allow astronomers to determine whether it is indeed part of the Centaur upper stage rocket booster that lifted Surveyor 2, or something else. .

"The near-Earth object 2020 SO, discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey on 17 Sept.

"We are not sure it is an asteroid (that is, a natural body), as it could be the rocket booster of the Surveyor 2 Nasa mission, dating back to 1966.

Whether 2020 SO is man-made or an asteroid, its orbit around the sun is very similar to Earth, making NASA believe it likely is indeed a part of the Surveyor 2, which launched toward the moon in 1966

"One of the possible paths for 2020 SO brought the object very close to Earth and the Moon in late September 1966," Center for Near-Earth Object Studies Director Paul Chodas said in a November statement