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Do You Need to Worry About an Asteroid Hitting Earth?


Published on 2025-02-14 16:02:19 - Time
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  • That's the day an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 may strike our planet. Cosmic bookmakers don't make an impact terribly likely. According to NASA, the odds of a collision are just 2.3%. But that nearly doubles the 1.

The article from Time magazine discusses the asteroid 2024 YR4, which was initially flagged by NASA's Scout system as having a small chance of impacting Earth. However, further observations and calculations by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) determined that the asteroid would safely pass by Earth at a distance of about 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers) on February 11, 2024. This distance is more than five times the distance to the moon, alleviating any concerns of an impact. The article explains that while the initial alert was due to limited data, the subsequent tracking and analysis confirmed there was no risk. It also highlights NASA's ongoing efforts to monitor near-Earth objects (NEOs) to assess potential threats, emphasizing the importance of continuous observation and the advancements in technology that help in predicting such events with greater accuracy.

Read the Full Time Article at:
[ https://time.com/7225374/do-you-need-to-worry-about-asteroid-2024-yr4-hitting-earth/ ]