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A 91-foot asteroid is rushing towards Earth, NASA alert says and it is set to get mighty close today as it is travelling at astonishing speeds.
A 91-foot asteroid is rushing towards Earth today at great speed, NASA says.
A massive, 91-foot, asteroid is rushing towards Earth today and it is going to get terrifyingly close within no time at all as it is travelling at great speed, NASA alert has indicated. This is Asteroid 2024 LB4 and it is set to make a very uncomfortable and close encounter with Earth. According to US space agency NASA, the asteroid will be getting as close as 1,800,000 miles of Earth and that is set to happen today. To put things in perspective and indicate how much potential damage it can cause is to take a look at its huge size. The asteroid is as big as an airplane. And the asteroid is travelling at a terrifying speed of 16988 miles per hour! Just imagine, with that kind of momentum, what a hard, rock-like, asteroid can do in terms of damage.
Fortunately, there is no reason to worry about. According to NASA this asteroid will pass by Earth without getting any closer although, a close eye will be kept by all kind of space-based and Earth based-equipment to ensure it does not deviate from its orbit.
Notably, most asteroids are stuck in the asteroid belt, but sometimes, due to the gravitational pull of other planets or even collision, can cause them to be dislodged and they become free-flying missiles shooting across the solar system. The asteroid belt is the region between Mars and Jupiter. NASA says that this region is home to millions of asteroids and they are orbiting the Sun just like other planets.
Notably, Asteroid 2024 LB4 has been characterised as a part of the NEOs (Near-Earth Asteroids) group by the Small-Body Database. This asteroid also belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids.
To protect Earth from any asteroid that may crash into it, NASA tested the DART mission and was successful in shifting the orbit of an asteroid successfully. However, this was not an asteroid that was heading towards Earth. NASA had altered that asteroid’s orbit by crashing a spacecraft into it.
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