4 ms·
I wonder where the spent S-IVB stages from the three previous missions are, right now?
by scrumper 13y ago
I wonder where the spent S-IVB stages from the three previous missions are, right now?
- teeja 13y agoStill orbiting the Sun ... though probably noone knows where any more. For example Apollo 8's S-IVB-503N went into a 0.99-by-0.92-astronomical-unit (148 by 138 Gm) solar orbit with a period of 340.80 days. Humor: Apollo 12's S-IVB-507 was discovered as an asteroid in 2002 and given the designation J002E3 before they realized what it was. There's a rundown here: http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/S-IVB http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/S-IVB
- 3JPLW 13y agoThey're in some sort of heliocentric orbit [1]. They didn't track them. One's been rediscovered, initially designated as asteroid J002E3 [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-IVB#Stages_built https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-IVB#Stages_built [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3