NASA says mysterious 'mini-moon' is actually a 1960s rocket booster - CNET

Welcome back, Surveyor 2 Centaur rocket booster.

A rocket booster NASA used to launch the Surveyor 2 lunar lander in 1966 has returned to us for a temporary spin as a mini-moon in orbit around Earth.

This cosmic detective work involved comparing spectrum data on the enigmatic object with data gathered on a known Centaur rocker booster that's been floating around in space since 1971.

The object has attracted a lot of interest due to the mystery surrounding it and the fact that it was captured into an Earth orbit that makes it a cute little visiting mini-moon.

The Centaur booster will stick around with us for a few months, but is expected to continue its space adventures back in orbit around the sun sometime in March 2021.