An unusual collaboration between Kyoto University and Japanese homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry has delivered the world’s first orbital satellite made primarily of wood to the International Space Station, as the focus of an experiment that may herald the end of the use of aluminum as the main ingredient in spacecraft construction.read more
Earth is being orbited by a mysterious object that’s approximately 60 feet long and rotates once every minute. Amateur astronomer Bill Yeung, first spotted it on September 3rd and named it J002E3. There was no sign of it earlier this year. “It must have entered Earth orbit recently,” says NASA’s Paul Chodas. “But it doesn’t match any recently-launched spacecraft.”
Could it be an alien spaceship? “If it is,” says Chodas, “the aliens aren’t good pilots. J002E3 is in a chaotic orbit. It loops around Earth once every 48 days or so, coming as close to our planet as the Moon and ranging as far away as two lunar distances.? Its orbit is constantly changing because of gravity from the Sun and Moon. There?s no evidence it?s moving under its own power.
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