Almost every new object observed in the sky is an asteroid, and that is also the assumption for this object. It has been given the designation WE0913A.
However, it turns out that WE0913A orbits the Earth, not the Sun, which makes it most likely to be from Earth. Gray said he thought it might be part of the rocket that launched the DSCOVR. More data confirms that WE0913A passed the moon two days after the launch of DSCOVR, which appears to confirm identification.
Mr Gray now realizes that his mistake was thinking about launching the DSCOVR on a trajectory to the Moon and using gravity to swing the spacecraft to its final destination about a million miles from Earth where the spacecraft would provide an incoming solar storm warning.
But, as Mr. Giorgini, DSCOVR actually launched on a direct trajectory that didn’t go beyond the Moon.
“I really wish I had reviewed that,” Gray said before his announcement came out in January. “But yes, once John Giorgini pointed it out, it became clear that I had made a mistake.”
SpaceX, which did not respond to a request for comment, did not say that the WE0913A was not its rocket stage. But he might as well not track it down. Most of the time, the second stage of the Falcon 9 is pushed back into the atmosphere to burn. In this case, the missile needs all the propellant to carry the DSCOVR to its distant destination.
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