This one's much, much smaller than the one we're used to seeing. The "mini-moon," as it's been dubbed, is only 6 feet to 11 feet in size.
Researchers estimate the mini moon, which is now circling the Earth, may have been pulled into orbit up to three years ago.
"It's like a little dance," said Bob Bonadurer, Director of the Milwaukee Public Museum's Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater and Planetarium. "You're pulling someone in for a little bit and they dance around you."
In case you are keeping track:
New Mystery Object "Minimoon" Discovered Orbiting Earth Imaged by Gemini Telescope
International Gemini Observatory image of 2020 CD3 (center, point source) obtained with the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea. The image combines three images each obtained using different filters to produce this color composite. 2020 CD3 remains stationary in the image since it was being tracked by the telescope as it appears to move relative to the background stars, which appear trailed due to the object’s motion.
Astronomers using the international Gemini Observatory , on Hawaii’s Maunakea, have imaged a very small object in orbit around the Earth, thought to be only a few meters across. According to Grigori Fedorets, the lead astronomer for the observations, the object could be a rare natural rocky object, or it could be something humans put into space decades ago — essentially space debris.
Rocket Lab to send Capella radar satellite to mid-inclination orbit - SpaceNews.com
SAN FRANCISCO – Capella Space will send a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite into a mid-inclination orbit later this year on a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle, the two companies announced March 5.
"It will be the first commercial SAR satellite in a mid-inclination orbit," Payam Banazadeh, Capella Space CEO, told SpaceNews. "Customers want to monitor areas around Korea, the Middle East, some portions of Europe and North America. Putting a satellite in a 45-degree-inclination orbit allows you to have good coverage of those areas."
SpaceLogistics teams with DARPA to service satellites on orbit
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SpaceLogistics will work with DARPA to develop a robotic servicing spacecraft after the company successfully docked its mission extension vehicle with a commercial satellite on orbit, Northrop Grumman announced March 4.
SpaceLogistics, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, will be DARPA's commercial partner for the agency's Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program, an effort to create the first commercial spacecraft with a robotic arm that can perform repairs, augmentation, assembly, inspection or relocation of other spacecraft already on orbit.
In case you are keeping track:
CORDIS | European Commission
Op-ed | Proliferated LEO is risky but necessary - SpaceNews.com
"All problems become smaller when you confront them instead of dodging them." — William F. Halsey
Once a safe haven, the space above Earth's atmosphere is congested and contested — and the problem is getting worse. A determined adversary can disable or eliminate a satellite it views as a threat. As the national security of the United States and its allies becomes increasingly reliant on space-based capabilities, we need to move toward resilient constellations that can absorb satellite losses without losing the mission.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 4 March 2020 - 3D Bioprinter Tested - SpaceRef
The three-member Expedition 62 crew poses for a portrait inside the Harmony module. Harmony is connected to three International Space Station laboratory modules -- Europe's Columbus, Japan's Kibo and the United States' Destiny lab modules. Clockwise from bottom are, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka. Credit: NASA. (Feb. 28, 2020)
The Expedition 62 crew is continuing its human research activities midweek aboard the International Space Station.
Happening on Twitter
Using an instrument designed to measure the X-rays emitted by asteroid Bennu in response to incoming solar radiatio… https://t.co/a2j3CRWWb8 NASASun (from NASA Goddard, Greenbelt, MD) Fri Mar 06 17:46:54 +0000 2020
A Newly Discovered Weed Compound Might Be 30 Times More Potent Than THC https://t.co/mLsK207ijh UberFacts (from Worldwide!) Fri Mar 06 23:07:00 +0000 2020
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