• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
NASA confirms if ‘lost’ asteroid will hit Earth in 2024

Home> Science> Space

Published 15:26 2 Jan 2024 GMT

NASA confirms if ‘lost’ asteroid will hit Earth in 2024

There's been a lot of intrigue around this asteroid - so what do the experts have to say?

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

You might have seen some rather troubling reports flying round recently - that an asteroid could hit Earth as soon as this year.

The asteroid - which has the rather dry name 2007 FT3 - was first spotted in space in 2007, but then scientists lost it.

Yep, that actually happened - it became categorized as a 'lost asteroid', but reports then suggested there was a one in 11.5 million chance it would collide with Earth on October 5 this year.

Is an asteroid currently hurtling towards us?
Jonathan Knowles/Getty

Advert

So far, so terrifying - we don't particularly fancy our chances if an asteroid does collide with Earth.

But luckily - as so often happens - the truth is actually far more tame.

Before you start building a bomb shelter for asteroids, a NASA spokesperson told the Standard: “There are no known asteroid impact threats to Earth at any time in the next century. NASA and its partners diligently watch the skies to find, track, and categorize asteroids and near-Earth objects (NEOs), including those that may come close to Earth.

"An important note here is planetary scientists define asteroid approaches that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit as close approaches. The larger an asteroid is, the easier it is for our planetary defence experts to find, meaning that their orbits around the sun are usually very well-known and understood for years or even decades.”

Advert

This is good news, particularly as there is a whopping 1,308,871 asteroids out there, according to NASA.

'Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago,' NASA says.

And many of them have far sexier names than 2007 FT3.

Psyche is a unique metal-rich asteroid.
JUAN GAERTNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty

Advert

One is called Psyche, which is described as 'one of the most intriguing objects in the main asteroid belt'. It's a metal-rich asteroid, discovered by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis in 1852.

It got its name from the Greek goddess of the soul, who was born mortal and married Eros (the Roman version of Cupid), the god of Love.

There's even another asteroid named Eros - famous as the first to be orbited by a spacecraft, and the first asteroid to have a spacecraft land on it.

Featured Image Credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Science Photo Library - ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI / Getty
Space

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
9 hours ago
11 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Mammoth structures discovered beneath Africa could be 'ancient planet' 4,500,000,000 years old

    The blobs could be pieces of an ancient planet that collided with Earth billions of years ago

    Science
  • 9 hours ago

    Microbiologist reveals how frequently people should actually be washing their sheets

    You might not be washing your bed sheets as often as you should

    Science
  • 11 hours ago

    Everything that happens to your body when you stop drinking alcohol

    Your body begins healing after just one day

    Science
  • 11 hours ago

    Experts confirm terrifying phenomenon that could see the shortest day in Earth’s history very soon

    3 summer days will be the shortest in human history

    Science
  • Eerie simulation shows 'horrifying' reality of what happens to your body if you die in space
  • Scientists have updated the chance that devastating 'God of Chaos' asteroid will hit Earth
  • 130ft asteroid going faster than an intercontinental ballistic missile to pass Earth tomorrow, says NASA
  • When ‘God of Chaos' asteroid is set to come closer to Earth than any other asteroid in recorded history