Three asteroids, including one larger than the Washington Monument, will safely fly past Earth on Christmas Day, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.
The largest space rock, known as asteroid 501647 (2014 SD224), is scheduled to come within 1.9 million miles of Earth and is thought to be up to 689 feet in diameter. It is considered a “potentially hazardous” near-Earth object (NEO) in terms of size and distance, but will not pose a threat to Earth when it zips by later this week.
NASA explained that a “potentially hazardous” NEO is defined as a space object within 0.05 astronomical units and more than 460 feet in diameter. According to Planetary.org’s 2018 report, there are more than 18,000 NEOs.
The asteroid last approached Earth on Jan. 26, 2020, and will not approach again until Dec. 18, 2021, NASA added.
In addition to asteroid 501647, two other asteroids, 2020 XY and 2020 YM1, will safely fly past Earth on Christmas Day. These two are also considered near-Earth objects and, like asteroid 501647, pose no threat to Earth.
In 2018, NASA released a 20-page plan outlining steps the U.S. should take to better respond to NEOs, such as asteroids and comets within 30 million miles of Earth.
A recent survey showed that Americans prefer a space program focused on potential asteroid impacts rather than sending humans back to the moon or Mars.
In April 2019, NASA awarded SpaceX, the Elon Musk-led space exploration company, a $69 million contract to help it conduct asteroid deflections with its DART mission.
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