1,600-feet asteroid, bigger than Empire State Building, heading towards Earth

By Team Newsable | First Published May 13, 2022, 11:22 AM IST

According to NASA, the asteroid is 1,608 feet diameter. In comparison, the Empire State Building in New York is 1,454 feet tall. It dwarfs the Statue of Liberty and is larger than the Eiffel Tower. If the space rock collides with Earth, it will do massive destruction.

A massive asteroid is on its way to Earth, according to space astronomers. The big space rock Asteroid 388945 (2008 TZ3) will make a near approach to our planet at 2.48am on May 16, according to the American space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which is monitoring it.

According to NASA, the asteroid is 1,608 feet diameter. In comparison, the Empire State Building in New York is 1,454 feet tall. It dwarfs the Statue of Liberty and is larger than the Eiffel Tower.

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If the space rock collides with Earth, it will do massive destruction.

Also Read | NASA plans to crash spacecraft into an asteroid in test of 'planetary defense'

However, according to space experts' predictions, it will pass us at a distance of roughly 2.5 million miles. Though it may appear to be a long distance, it is not in terms of space. As a result, NASA has classified this as a "close approach."

This is not the first time Asteroid 388945 has visited us. In May 2020, it came quite close to Earth, at a distance of 1.7 million miles. This space rock orbits the Sun and passes Earth every two years, according to space experts. It will pass near to Earth again in May 2024, but this time it will be far farther away - 6.9 million miles.

The asteroid will pass near to Earth again in May 2163. Asteroids that come within 4.65 million miles of Earth and are larger than a specific size are deemed "possibly dangerous" by space organisations.

Also Read | NASA launches 12-year long Lucy mission to explore Jupiter Trojan asteroids

Asteroids are fragments of planets that continue to rotate in the vast, limitless emptiness. For decades, scientists have warned that some massive space asteroids pose a threat to Earth. As a result, various space organisations, including NASA, are developing a strategy to protect the Earth from potentially harmful asteroids. NASA just launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission as part of this strategy.

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