21062 Iasky
Encyclopedia
21062 Iasky is a main-belt
asteroid
discovered on May 13, 1991 by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker at Palomar
.
In his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot
, Astronomer Carl Sagan
speculated on the nature of 1991JW, saying it "has an orbit very much like the Earth's and is even easier to get to than 4660 Nereus
. But its orbit seems too similar to the Earth's for it to be a natural object. Perhaps it's some lost upper stage of the Saturn V
Apollo moon rocket.
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
discovered on May 13, 1991 by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker at Palomar
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
.
In his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot
Pale Blue Dot (book)
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space is a non-fiction book by Carl Sagan. It is the sequel to Cosmos: A Personal Voyage and was inspired by the "Pale Blue Dot" photograph, for which Sagan provides a sobering description...
, Astronomer Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
speculated on the nature of 1991JW, saying it "has an orbit very much like the Earth's and is even easier to get to than 4660 Nereus
4660 Nereus
4660 Nereus is a small asteroid. It was discovered by Eleanor F. Helin on February 28, 1982, approximately 1 month after a near pass by the Earth. It is named after Nereus, a Titan in Greek mythology.Nereus is potentially a very important asteroid...
. But its orbit seems too similar to the Earth's for it to be a natural object. Perhaps it's some lost upper stage of the Saturn V
Saturn V
The Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload...
Apollo moon rocket.