According to NASA, asteroid 2022 PA1 is approaching dangerously close to the Earth today, August 10. Know the risks.
The Earth is going through a scary phase of asteroid bombardment. Almost every single day an asteroid is zooming towards our planet and narrowly misses it. But scientists fear that our luck cannot last forever and sooner or later, one of these space rocks is bound to smash into our planet and cause massive destruction. The last time it happened was in February this year when asteroid 2022 EB5 struck the planet off the coast of Iceland. Luckily the asteroid was just a couple of meters wide and because it hit a remote area, it did not cause any damage. But today, August 10, a 55-feet wide asteroid is set to make a close approach to the Earth. And if it ended up striking our planet, the result could be quite devastating. Read on to know the chances of it hitting the Earth.
According to the information provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of NASA, the asteroid is named 2022 PA1, where the ‘2022′ suggests that the current year is the first time when it was spotted. In fact, it was spotted just four days ago. This happens because smaller asteroids can often escape the observation of various space agencies and are only seen when they are near to the Earth. The data also reveals that the asteroid will come as close as 1 million kilometers to our planet, which is the closest any asteroid in recent weeks has traveled. However, scientists remain confident that the asteroid will make a safe passage and not strike us.
A house-sized asteroid is dangerously approaching the Earth today
The main concern with the asteroid coming so close to us is that a last moment deviation can redirect it towards the Earth and we would not have enough time to react to the incoming space rock. NASA ensures that the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a specialized department made to observe near Earth objects and formulate measures against them, is monitoring 2022 PA1.
If we survive the asteroid this time around, it will again appear near us in 2024. However, it will not come this close to us again till at least 2074.
Leave a Reply