1969 rocket still in orbit.AN AMATEUR astronomer may have found a piece of the rocket that launched the Apollo 12 astronauts to the moon in 1969,. A Nasa scientist said the object was first seen on September 3 by Arizona man Bill Yeung, hunting for asteroids This is a list of numbered minor planets, nearly all of them asteroids, in sequential order. As of late September 2007 there are 164,612 numbered minor planets, and many more not yet numbered. Most asteroids are ordinary and not particularly noteworthy. . Follow-up observations and calculations of its path suggest it is orbiting the earth once every 48 days at a distance twice that of the moon. Although initially believed to be an asteroid, astron-omers now suspect it is a rocket fragment, possibly the third stage of the massive Saturn V  For the moon designated Saturn V, see Rhea. Saturn V is also an alternative designation for the Centaur rocket stage. "Saturn 5" redirects here. launched on November 14 1969, with astronauts Charles ``Pete'' Conrad Jr, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean Alan LaVern Bean (born March 15, 1932) is a former NASA Astronaut and became the fourth man to walk on the moon at the age of 37. Bean was born in Wheeler, Texas and graduated from R. L. aboard. Complex orbit calculations suggest the fragment, nearly 59ft tall, was captured into earth orbit in April, explaining why it had not been spotted before. Before this spring, the rocket stage had probably spent three decades orbiting the sun. |
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