A massive asteroid bigger than the world’s tallest building is expected to make its closest encounter with Earth next week.
Asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) will make its closest pass by Earth next week, several media reported on Wednesday.
NASA clarifies that it’s not expected to cause a direct collision.
It is currently classified as “potentially hazardous” due to its size, which is 1 kilometer or 3,280 feet, across – more than twice the height of New York’s Empire State Building.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid could come within 1,231,184 miles of Earth on January 18, 2022, and again in July, though at a greater distance.
“There are more than a million known asteroids,” said NASA. “It is not uncommon for many to fly by Earth.
However, there are about 25,000 near-Earth asteroids that could be devastating if they crash.”
And it just so happens that Netflix recently released the satirical movie “Don’t Look Up” about two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization.
Many netizens voiced concerns about the possibility of a future resembling the events in the movie.
In November, NASA launched a probe designed to crash with a small asteroid head-on to test the possibility of deflecting an asteroid off course to avoid a collision with the planet.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, will collide with a 525-foot-wide body called Dimorphos at 15,000 miles per hour in September this year.
Other Hollywood thrillers with imagined space missions to deflect or destroy asteroids include “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”.
Tags: #asteroid, #NASA#outerspace# nearEarthobject