The faint object appeared in the night sky on September 3, 2002, as amateur Bill Yeung did what he does best–look up and find cool things. Yeung peered through his telescope and saw the stunning image sequence below.
J002E3 discovery images taken by Bill Yeung on September 3, 2002. J002E3 is in the circle.
The space object received the designation J002E3 and was initially thought to be a typical rocky asteroid orbiting the Sun. Yet, something wasn’t quite right. Analysis revealed that the object’s orbital trajectories had an odd orbit path that seemed to originate from Earth.
Scientists were puzzled and began to ask questions. Soon an interesting consensus formed that the object might be space junk from the Apollo days, more specifically the third stage of the Saturn V rocket from Apollo 12 launched in November 1969.
To confirm the theory, scientists used spectrographic evidence to determine that the object’s surface is coated with titanium dioxide, the paint used on the Saturn rockets. The coincidences were mounting.
The third stage of Apollo 17’s Saturn rocket is similar to J002E3 object.
The Saturn stage was to be injected into an orbit around the Sun somewhere distant from Earth between the Earth and Mars. Scientists believe that did not happen.
The video below does a great job of explaining through simulations to explain the mysterious 30-year journey of this Apollo space junk.
Be on the lookout! The predictions are that the Saturn stage will return in 2040! If I’m still alive, I’ll try to cover in this blog!