Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has raised the possibility that Sar2901, captured in Earth's gravity, could be artificial rather than natural in origin.
In his latest Medium post, Loeb pointed to the object's unusual orbital history.
He noted that Sar2901 passed close to Earth between April 10 and 20, 1970, a window that overlaps almost exactly with the Apollo 13 mission.
In his blog, Loeb cited anecdotes of similar objects like J002E3 & 2020 SO that confounded astronomers earlier.
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Sar2901 has been designated Earth’s temporary mini-moon. The true nature of the celestial object has intrigued astronomers around the world. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has raised the possibility that Sar2901, captured in Earth's gravity, could be artificial rather than natural in origin.
In his latest Medium post, Loeb pointed to the object's unusual orbital history. He noted that Sar2901 passed close to Earth between April 10 and 20, 1970, a window that overlaps almost exactly with the Apollo 13 mission. The oxygen tank explosion on April 13, 1970, blew off an exterior panel from the spacecraft's Service Module. The incident was photographed by the crew at the time. Loeb argues in the blog that Sar2901 could be that very panel, or alternatively one of four panels jettisoned from the Apollo 13 Saturn V third stage during routine lunar module extraction.
Sar2901: Classification Conundrum
The Minor Planet Center flagged the ambiguity itself on September 2, stating the object's orbit is consistent with either a mini-moon or an artificial object. Sar2901 has since faded from view and won't be observable again until mid-to-late November 2026, when astronomers hope to measure non-gravitational forces acting on its path. This will also help refine its classification. In his blog, Loeb cited anecdotes of similar objects like J002E3 & 2020 SO that confounded astronomers earlier.
J002E3 & 2020 SO
This object was spotted in 2002, which was later confirmed through spectroscopy to be the Apollo 12 rocket's S-IVB stage, its surface matching titanium dioxide paint. Similarly, 2020 SO turned out to be a Centaur upper stage from NASA's 1966 Surveyor 2 launch, identified by its stainless steel spectrum.
Sar2901: 56-Year-Old Space Debris or Something Else?
Scientist Marshall Eubanks first floated the Apollo-era timing coincidence, according to Loeb's post. Loeb said distinguishing decades-old space debris from a genuine asteroid will require precise orbital back-integration and spectroscopic follow-up matching Apollo-era materials, since a lightweight metal panel responds far more strongly to solar radiation pressure than a solid rocky body of similar brightness. Until then, he said, Sar2901's identity remains an "intriguing coincidence."
Sar2901’s identity, whether it is Apollo 13 panels or unrelated natural asteroid that happened to pass by around the same time, is not yet resolved, and would need either better orbital back-integration data or spectroscopic follow-up attempting to match reflectance against Apollo-era materials, to move its detection from an “intriguing coincidence” to a status of “confirmed identification.”
Read Prof. Avi Loeb’s blog here.
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