Scary! A 100-foot asteroid hurtling towards Earth today, August 28; NASA shares details | Tech News

Scary! A 100-foot asteroid hurtling towards Earth today, August 28; NASA shares details

A 100-foot asteroid is hurtling towards Earth today, August 28! NASA warned about the massive space rock. Will this asteroid strike the Earth?

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 28 2022, 06:11 IST
This asteroid is worth $10,000 Quadrillion
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1/6 hereas other asteroids are generally made up of ice or rocks, this unique asteroid is made up of nickel, which is one of the building blocks of the solar system. One of the biggest asteroids in our Solar System, the 16 Psyche asteroid is made up of gold, nickel and iron deposits and is supposedly worth more than Earth's economy. The asteroid is worth nearly $10,000 Quadrillion. (NASA)
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2/6 The Psyche Mission will also help scientists to study and understand iron cores, a previously unexplored building block of planet formation. The 16 Psyche asteroid mission is a part of NASA's Discovery missions. (Pixabay)
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3/6 The findings of this mission could enable scientists to develop a way of using asteroids as resources. Asteroids could come in handy when building structures in space, such as bases on other planets or even the Moon. Due to their 85 percent metal structure, they could be an excellent source of minerals. It is even said that the raw materials extracted from asteroids could even exceed the metal reserves present on Earth. (NASA)
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4/6 The mission has been in the phase known as assembly, test, and launch operations since March 2021. Since the launch window is limited, scientists and engineers have worked round the clock in order to finish the spacecraft's assembly in time. However, due to unexpected software issues, the mission has now been delayed and pushed to 2023. (NASA)
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5/6 NASA said, "Due to the late delivery of the spacecraft's flight software and testing equipment, NASA does not have sufficient time to complete the testing needed ahead of its remaining launch period this year, which ends on October 11. The mission team needs more time to ensure that the software will function properly in flight." (NASA)
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6/6 In order to reach the asteroid, the spacecraft will fly by Mars for a gravity assist in May 2023 and, in early 2026, orbit around asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. NASA says that the Psyche mission is expected to launch in both 2023 and 2024, but due to the uncertainties, the exact dates of these potential launch periods are yet to be determined. (NASA)
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An asteroid can cause widespread destruction across the planet where it strikes. Now, a massive asteroid has been found by NASA that is heading for Earth today. (NASA)

Yesterday, Earth narrowly escaped a giant asteroid named Asteroid NEO 2022 QQ4, which was 100-foot in diameter. However, it flew safely past the Earth. Its closest approach to the Earth was 5.93 million kilometres. NASA's CNEOS has revealed that it travelled at a speed of 7.23 km per second. These giant rocks in space travel around the Sun, but they can change their paths due to the gravitational force of planets and sometimes even collide with them as happened with the asteroid that caused the extinction of dinosaurs when it crashed into the Earth! However, it may happen only in rare cases.

And thankfully, this asteroid was not that rare case! However, there is another asteroid which is set to make its closest approach to the Earth in the next 24 hours. NASA confirmed that an asteroid named Asteroid NEO 2022 QP3 will fly by today, August 28. This one is as big as the asteroid that whizzed past the Earth today. It is a 100-foot wide asteroid which will come as close as 5.51 million kilometres or 3.4 million miles to the Earth.

Asteroid NEO 2022 QP3 heading towards Earth

NASA's Planetary Defence Coordination Office has red-flagged the Asteroid NEO 2022 QP3 due to its close proximity. The Asteroid Watch dashboard of NASA displays the next five Earth approaches to within 4.6 million miles or 7.5 million kilometers to Earth, which is termed as a potentially hazardous object. It is 19.5 times the distance to the moon. What's more alarming is that it is even moving more quickly than today's asteroid. CNEOS confirmed that this asteroid has a velocity of 7.93 km per second.

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Do asteroids hit the Earth?

The answer is yes! There is an infamous Chicxulub asteroid which caused massive destruction on Earth around 66 million years ago. Effect? End of the age of the dinosaurs. That's why NASA keeps an active eye on all such asteroids posing a threat to Earth.

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First Published Date: 28 Aug, 06:11 IST
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