NASA Says Asteroid Could Enter Earth’s Atmosphere, But Poses No Threat
2020 has been a crazy year to say the least with COVID-19, civil unrest, California wildfires, the Presidential election and the two hurricanes hitting just days apart in the same area of Louisiana. So, an asteroid coming straight for Earth seems par for the course.
NASA posted about the asteroid headed to Earth yesterday saying on Twitter, “Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.”
Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020
According to CNN, The celestial object known as 2018VP1 is projected to come close to Earth on November 2, according to the Center for Near Earth Objects Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was first identified at Palomar Observatory in California in 2018.
NASA said in a statement, “If it were to enter our planet’s atmosphere, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size. NASA has been directed by Congress to discover 90% of the near-Earth asteroids larger than 140 meters (459 feet) in size and reports on asteroids of any size.”
NASA says that, “based on 21 observations spanning 12.968 days,” the agency has determined the asteroid probably won’t have a deep impact.
