Public index · Planetary
42 days
Apollo 12 S-IVB
Saturn V third stage from Apollo 12. Failed heliocentric injection. NASA: elliptical Earth orbit with a period of 42 days.
The stage missed the Sun-centered path. NASA prints the orbit: 101,350 by 535,522 miles, period 42 days. A leftover engine with a numbered period. Later it was mistaken for an asteroid.
NASA / JPL
Printed 42s
A proton count. A catalogue seat. A scan. A model boundary. A patch that draws 4 and II. A joke a JPL scientist made in public. Different kinds. NASA printed them. That does not make them one Answer.
The metal
- Z = 42Molybdenum
Proton count. The integer was 42 before Adams.
- jokeDouglas Adams element
Russell at JPL named the metal. NASA printed the joke.
Sky and distance
- M42Orion Nebula
Catalogue seat. NASA’s Cosmic Hearth is Maya reception.
- C42Caldwell 42
Another catalogue. NGC 7006. Not a measured forty-two.
- ≈42 AUKuiper collisions
Stern 1995. A modeled boundary, not Albion’s distance.
- 42.1 km/sSolar escape
Vis-viva at 1 AU. Family 4.2, not 42.00.
Missions and tools
- 42 minMariner 2
A scan of Venus. Duration, not a law of the planet.
42 dApollo 12 S-IVBhere
Missed heliocentric burn. NASA prints the period.
- 42Expedition 42
Sequential crew number. The patch draws 4 and II.
- STS-42STS-42
Shuttle number. Discovery, IML-1.
- 42Horizons keywords
JPL’s own manual. A documentation count.
What it supports
NASA, Apollo 12: The Pinpoint Mission. S-IVB failed to enter planned heliocentric orbit. Elliptical Earth orbit, period of 42 days. JPL later tied object J002E3 to this stage, last seen in an elongated ~43-day orbit.
What it does not
Not a designed 42-day mission. The period is what the missed burn left. JPL 2002 says about 43 days for the recapture. This card is NASA’s 42-day print for 1969.
ExactnessExact
Form42 as duration
Unitdays
Strengthhard
When1969-11-14
Hung16 September 2026