A huge and scary asteroid is hurtling towards Earth at blistering speed. Here’s what NASA has to say.
Asteroid flybys have been a common theme these past few months. For those of you who don’t know, an asteroid is a terrifying small, rocky object out in space travelling at massive speed and when seen in a telescope, it appears as a point of light, according to NASA. Most asteroids are found in a ring between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter called the Asteroid Belt. These celestial objects are the remains of the period during which our solar system formed, over 4.6 billion years ago.
An asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 QJ7, has been spotted coming towards Earth today at a blistering speed. The asteroid was spotted by NASA’s Defense Coordination Office, which is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). If any celestial object is at risk of Earth impact, it red flags it and issues a global alert. Asteroids which come closer than 8 million kilometers from Earth’s orbit are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids, according to NASA.
Asteroid 2022 QJ7 to just miss Earth today, September 5
NASA has warned that Asteroid 2022 QJ7 is heading for Earth and will just about miss the planet today, September 5. The asteroid is travelling at a staggering 43,236 kilometers per hour. The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth today at a distance of just 5.6 million kilometers. That might seem a lot but NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office has still classified it as a “Potentially Hazardous Object” due to the close proximity by which it will fly past Earth.
In terms of size, Asteroid 2022 QJ7 is nearly as big as a commercial aircraft with a width of nearly 82 feet.
NASA Artemis 1 launch faces another setback
In a big disappointment, NASA’s Artemis 1 launch was scrubbed again due to yet another issue. As soon as NASA engineers sent a command to fill the hydrogen tanks, an alarm went up and a hydrogen leak in the tanks was spotted. Even after numerous attempts to repair the leak, the team were unsuccessful and the launch was scrubbed again.