NASA officials say an unusually shaped oblong object was recently tracked by the space agency’s Deep Space Network as it made a close approach near Earth earlier this month.
The Deep Space Network consists of a network of spacecraft communication facilities operated by the U.S. from various points around the globe. With locations in North America, Europe, and Australia, the Deep Space Network is able to conduct astronomy via radio and radar observations while contributing to several of NASA’s orbital missions.
On February 3, the network detected an odd, roughly pill-shaped object with a length close to three times that of its width, approaching Earth at just under five times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
The curiously shaped object was described as one of the “most elongated asteroids ever imaged by planetary radar,” according to a statement that appeared on the website of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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