Asteroid To Make Close Earth Flyby In March

Asteroid 2013 TX68 is predicted to fly by the Earth on March 5, 2016 at a distance of anywhere between 14 million kilometres and 17,000 kilometres.

NASA is now so concerned about a devastating direct hit with Earth they’re setting up a detection program to monitor them. But it could also follow a trajectory that spins it much further out so that, even with the aid of a telescope, it would be too far out of range to glimpse at 9 million miles away.

NASA estimates that the asteroid is about 100 feet in diameter.

The asteroid in question is 2013 TX68 which few past Earth two year ago at a safe distance of about 1.3 million miles (2 million kilometers).

The asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on October 6, 2013, as it approached Earth on the nighttime side.

Paul Chodas of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies said: “This asteroid’s orbit is quite uncertain, and it will be hard to predict where to look for it”. To put it in context, the Chelyabinsk asteroid which exploded into tiny pieces over Russian Federation in 2013 was 65 feet wide. In September 2017, there is a 1 in 260 million chance of impact.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently announced that a small asteroid will whiz past Earth for second time in three years, only that this time it would be a lot closer.

Even if this asteroid did end up smashing into Earth it’s thought it wouldn’t end life on the planet.

As of now, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies predicts an “extremely remote” chance that the asteroid could impact Earth on Sep. That blast shattered glass and destroyed buildings, leaving more than 1,000 injured. The good news is that the near-Earth-object isn’t heading for our planet in any of the NASA scenarios. They do know that the flyover will occur on March 5. Should an asteroid of its size ever impact Earth, though, it could cause damage and injuries if it were to fall in a populated region.

The asteroid was visible for just three days during its last approach to Earth in 2013 before it passed into daytime skies and could no longer be tracked. We’re not due for Armageddon or an Extinction Level Event anytime soon!