Photo: NASA / Getty Images
A “potentially dangerous” asteroid will pass close to Earth in December and it has a size similar to that of the Eiffel Tower, according to NASA. The space rock will travel parallel to the earth at more than 20, 000 kilometers per hour before diving into deep space.
Despite from NASA’s cataloging, the asteroid will approach the Earth at about 4 million kilometers , which is equal to ten times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, so it does not really represent an imminent danger to humanity .
Scientists named the space rock Nereus 4660 and will pass exactly the 11 of December close to Earth. The celestial body has an approximate length of 330 meters and has a shape similar to a ovoid.
According to the Center for the Study of Near Earth Objects (CNEOS), an asteroid is considered “potentially dangerous” to anyone who passes less than 7 million kilometers from Earth and exceeds the 140 meters in diameter , such as the Nereus 4660.
NASA does not anticipate that an object of significant size will pose a real threat to humanity for more than 80 years, when a giant space rock called 410777 pass so close to the ground in 2185 that will have a 0.2% chance of hitting the Earth .
In short, there will be no No threat from a space rock to Earth in the next 100 years As minimum. However, NASA is working on several proposals to defend the planet from these celestial bodies that move at high speed in the cosmos.
East 23 November is expected to launch the DART (double asteroid redirection test, for its acronym in English), which would be the first planetary defense mission in human history. In addition, one of the objectives will be to “practice” the deviation of an asteroid, when Dimorphos, a small lunar rock, suffers a modification in its trajectory due to the effect of the satellite .
Another of the options of the space agency, is the controlled nuclear detonation on the surface of the space rock, although they insist that this would be the last of the options to take in case an asteroid is heading directly towards Earth.
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