NASA Reveals Details of Asteroid the Size of a Boeing 777 Heading Towards Earth

The Earth will always have concerns regarding asteroids, making their detection and monitoring crucial. On February 15, 2013, a meteor called the Chelyabinsk meteor exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia’s southern Urals region, causing injuries to 1,500 individuals due to shattered windows. The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a division of NASA, is responsible for monitoring the skies and observing various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Recently, the PDCO issued a warning about an asteroid known as Asteroid 2023 PM1, which is just one of the many asteroids discovered so far. NASA utilizes advanced ground and space-based telescopes and satellites to keep a close watch on these asteroids.

Asteroid 2023 PM1

This asteroid is heading towards the planet and is traveling at a speed of 66,860 kilometers per hour. It was first observed on August 13th and the last observation was made on August 18th. As NASA suggests, this asteroid is not large enough to be called a potentially hazardous asteroid. Asteroid 2023 PM1 is nearly 220 feet across, making it almost as big as a Boeing 777!

The Space Agency has also revealed that Asteroid 2023 PM1 belongs to the Apollo family. The Apollo asteroids form a collection of Earth-crossing asteroids named after Apollo, discovered in 1862 by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. The Chelyabinsk meteor was also from the Apollo family. This asteroid’s closest approach to Earth is 1.94 million kilometers.

DART task

In 2022, NASA conducted the inaugural test of its DART mission, designed to protect against asteroid threats. By crashing the spacecraft into an incoming asteroid, they successfully altered its trajectory and demonstrated an effective method of deflecting an asteroid. At the same time, ESA has launched the NEOMIR mission, which is designed as an early warning system for larger (20 meters and up) asteroids that cannot be seen from the Earth’s surface.

Although NASA experts predict that no asteroid will impact Earth in the next century, the importance of planetary defenses remains crucial. These measures could play a key role in preventing potential loss of life if an asteroid were to accelerate towards our planet.