NASA is keeping a watchful eye on the large space rock which will be making a very close approach to Earth.
On May 12, the Asteroid 2023HT4 will pass us.
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Nasa has included it in its NEO Earth Close Aproximations because of the size, speed and distance. You can find out more about this by clicking here..
It’s an entire table filled with space rocks.
According to the US Space Agency, Asteroid 2023HT4 can reach up to 426.5 foot wide.
This is a much larger statue than the Statue Of Liberty.
New York’s famous landmark stands at 305 feet when you include the base and 151 feet when you only include the female figure.
An asteroid of that size could do some serious damage if it were to collide with Earth.
Space agencies are cautious and will consider an asteroid “potentially dangerous” if it comes close to them.
It is estimated that the huge asteroid which will pass on 12 May, should stay about 3.8 million miles from us.
This may seem like a long distance, but when you consider the vastness of space it’s not that far.
The large asteroid is estimated to pass us at a speed of more than 19000 miles per hour.
Plans to Save Earth From Asteroids
Some experts worry that Earth may not be ready to protect itself against potentially deadly asteroids.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once sparked concern by tweeting: “A big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defense.”
Nasa has been looking at some defensive methods.
Last year, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test was launched.
The experiment showed that Nasa had been able to detect the orbital movement of an asteroid named Dimorphos.