

But it could prove an exciting next chapter for the mission. Nolan said.īudget constraints or other issues, such as concerns OSIRIS-REX could inadvertently alter the orbit of Apophis and make it a threat to Earth, could dictate whether the extended mission is approved. The Amor group asteroid 2020 QW3 has an orbital period of 732 days. However, because of how close the asteroid 2020 QW3 is expected to come near Earth, it has been designated as a potentially dangerous asteroid. Or, it could be placed on the surface of Apophis and act as a “tracking beacon,” Dr. The 3 times the size of an aircraft asteroid's potential collision with the Earth has been ruled out, according to the US space agency. It would also lead to better understanding of whether Apophis poses a future threat to Earth.Īfter Apophis, OSIRIS-REX might even have enough fuel to visit yet another asteroid. On Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram.NASA’s ongoing DART mission, which launched last month, is performing a not-too-dissimilar experiment by slamming into a small asteroid to see if we can change its orbit.ĭavide Farnocchia, from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said the close pass of Apophis was an “amazing opportunity” to observe an asteroid of this size up close. A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore, and our calculations don’t show any impact. And these upcoming asteroids have not been termed as potentially hazardous.įollow HT Tech for the latest tech news and reviews, also keep up with us First detected in 2004, Apophis is now officially off NASAs asteroid risk list. The latest information stated that an airplane-sized 71-feet wide 2022 0A4 asteroid is approaching the Earth today at a blazing 7.86 kilometers per second.Īn asteroid larger than about 150 meters (around 492-feet) that approaches anywhere near Earth is termed a potentially hazardous object by NASA. NASA's Asteroid Watch dashboard tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth on a daily basis to detect potentially dangerous objects to the planet. NASA mentioned that it is a 93-foot wide asteroid. However, it is relatively smaller than the other asteroids that are getting ready to visit the space around Earth. On August 16, the space rock named 2022 PW will make its closest approach within the distance of 529,000 kilometres of the Earth! Know that the average distance between Earth and the moon is about 385,000 kilometers. However, there is another terror that is coming way more closer than all of these asteroids. It will travel at a speed of 4.07 kilometers per second. It is much bigger than the asteroid which whizzed past the Earth yesterday.
ASTEROIDS EARTH NASA PC
One of the biggest asteroids will be the massive 190-foot asteroid named 2022 PC that will come within 6.3 million kilometres of our planet on August 18. Now, NASA's Asteroid Watch revealed that there are four asteroids that are making their close appearance to Earth in the next few days. So far, the only ones that have collided in recent years have been small ones, which caused little or localised damage. However, Earth may not be lucky every time! NASA says that asteroids generally travel around the Sun, but can change their orbit paths due to the gravitational force of planets, which can sometimes force them to collide with them. Yesterday, a mammoth 110-foot wide 2022 OT1 asteroid safely passed within a close distance of 4.7 million kilometers from Earth. Some wicked space rocks are shooting across space, posing a big threat to Earth. While these heightened viewing pleasure, there are other objects in the sky that are spreading terror.

ASTEROIDS EARTH NASA PLUS
Available for their viewing pleasure are Perseids meteor shower and the recent supermoon, plus many more upcoming events that will leave them awestruck. The month of August seems a perfect time for skywatchers to do some star-gazing.
