1.3 Mn Miles! NASA Says This Asteroid Is Speeding At 19827MPH Towards Earth

After Asteroid 2024 YR4 put space watchers across the world on alert about its likelihood of crashing onto Earth in less than a decade, more attention is being put on asteroids that are straying very close to our planet - latest NASA data suggests zero chance of a collision by YR4 now. The reason behind all this attention is the fact that these space rocks may pose an existential crisis for mankind if they are big enough, and if they are smaller, then they may pose danger to the region of the planet it may crash on. For instance, Asteroid 2024 YR4 was labelled a city-killer.

After Asteroid 2024 YR4 put space watchers across the world on alert about its likelihood of crashing onto Earth in less than a decade, more attention is being put on asteroids that are straying very close to our planet - latest NASA data suggests zero chance of a collision by YR4 now. The reason behind all this attention is the fact that these space rocks may pose an existential crisis for mankind if they are big enough, and if they are smaller, then they may pose danger to the region of the planet it may crash on. For instance, Asteroid 2024 YR4 was labelled a city-killer.

Even more important is the fact that, at the moment, there is no sure-fire system to deflect or destroy an asteroid or comet in space so that it poses zero danger. In fact, destroying an asteroid with a nuclear weapon may even increase the danger as it may split the space rock into many smaller, but equally dangerous bits. If you are thinking of Armageddon, then remember, it was a Hollywood movie.

While that was a mission on reel, there actually is a NASA mission in real life that happened and successfully changed the course of an asteroid from its previous orbit. This was the DART mission launched in 2022 in which a spacecraft was crashed into Dimorphos, a massive 530-foot moonlet that orbits a larger 2560-foot asteroid called Didymos. Currently, there is a spacecraft called Hera on way to this asteroid to check how successful the impact was and whether the DART mission actually has the potential to become part of a planetary defence system. In fact, just a few days ago, the Hera mission actually took images of Mars and one its moons on its way to a rendezvous with with the DART mission asteroid.

Coming back to the space rock that is going to have a very close encounter with Earth today, then know that NASA has named it as Asteroid 2025 ES2 and it will get to just 1,360,000 miles of Earth at its closest point.

According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Small-Body Database Lookup, it is travelling at an astonishing speed of 19827 miles per hour (MPH).

Asteroid 2025 ES2 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and it has been dubbed as a near-earth object (NEO). And if you are wondering, then yes, this asteroid will miss Earth and fly by into the blackness of space again. However, it will come back to buzz Earth again and that will be in March 2068.