NASA Alert: Asteroid 150 Feet Away – Get Ready for a Close Encounter!
Are you aware that you have the opportunity to examine the asteroid sample gathered by NASA in person? The NASA OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has recently completed a groundbreaking mission, successfully landing on an asteroid, collecting rock and dust samples, and returning them to Earth. Despite encountering difficulties when opening the sample capsule initially, NASA has now acquired the samples, with a portion of them currently on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. Therefore, if you reside in the vicinity, do not hesitate to witness these significant samples firsthand!
In a new development, NASA has illuminated an asteroid that is expected to pass Earth today. Know the details of this close encounter.
Asteroid 2023 TO15
The asteroid, named Asteroid 2023 TO15, is heading towards Earth and could make a very close pass today, November 6. NASA revealed these shocking details after tracking the asteroid’s orbit using its various satellites as well as space and ground. based telescopes such as NEOWISE, Catalina Sky Survey and others. According to the details, asteroid 2023 TO15 is expected to pass the Earth at a distance of 5.8 million kilometers and at a speed of 40,299 kilometers per hour, according to NASA.
The space agency has also revealed that it belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are beyond-Earth space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth’s. These asteroids are named after the huge 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.
How big is it?
According to NASA, the near-Earth asteroid is not expected to collide and is not large enough to be classified as a potentially hazardous object. These are celestial bodies more than about 490 meters long, which can approach the Earth within a radius of 7.5 million kilometers. It’s about 150 feet wide, so it’s the size of an airplane. Shockingly, this will be the first close-to-Earth approach in the history of Asteroid 2023 TO15. According to NASA’s Small-Body Database Lookup, the next time it will pass Earth is on February 8, 2027 at a distance of 61 million kilometers and at a speed of 72648 kilometers per hour!
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