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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaur-fossil-from-day-extinction-asteroid-hit-earth-scientists-claim-2022-4">asteroid that killed</a> most dinosaurs 66 million years ago left behind traces of its own origin.</li><li>Researchers think they know where the Chicxulub impactor came from based on levels of ruthenium.</li></ul>A team of researchers think they know the origin of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-triggered-underwater-volcanic-eruptions-2018-2">massive space rock</a> that hit Earth and killed off almost all the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.Their findings could help NASA in its search for potentially hazardous asteroids that pose a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">significant threat</a> to life on Earth.Asteroids have different chemical makeups depending on where they formed in our solar system.To determine the dino-killing asteroid's origin, researchers examined the various elements in samples taken from several locations dating to the time of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">mass extinction</a>.In particular, they looked at the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oppenheimer-science-to-understand-physics-atomic-bombs-2023-7">element ruthenium</a>. It's a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/44/ruthenium">rare</a> metal on Earth but is more abundant in asteroids.Ruthenium levels can be a good indicator of whether an asteroid "originally formed in the outer solar system or in the inner solar system," Mario Fischer-Gödde, one of the researchers, told Business Insider.Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues found that, unlike many other impactors over the last 541 million years, the Chicxulub impactor that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-cretaceous-paleogene-extinction-2017-11">killed the dinosaurs</a> and up to 75% of all life on Earth formed in the outer — not the inner — solar system.However, the impactor likely made its way to the inner solar system in the asteroid belt long before it hurtled toward Earth. That's because in the early days of the solar system, Jupiter migrated and its gravitational influence scattered more distant asteroids closer to the sun in the process, Fischer-Gödde said.<h2 id="42437828-e838-4325-833b-b21d3ef96f61">NASA doesn't know where all the dangerous asteroids are</h2><div type="image" title="A stegosaurus skeleton in front of a sign that reads &quot;Apex the Segosaurs&quot;" height="683" width="1024" msid="112576306" hostid="261" sizebytes="48450"></div>Despite the rarity of huge asteroid strikes, NASA and other space agencies are racing to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-built-largest-digital-camera-lsst-for-asteroids-dark-matter-2024-4">learn all they can</a> about potentially harmful rocks that could trigger another mass extinction event. Because it only takes one.There are still many unknowns about these rocks, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">where some of them are</a> and which types may pose the most threat.Understanding more about the origin of major asteroid strikes in Earth's past could help NASA know where to look for future risks.With the ruthenium findings, "we are a step further in zooming in on the exact object" that created the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-more-sulfur-rapid-climate-cooling-2017-11">Chicxulub crater</a>, Jan Smit, a professor emeritus at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who was not involved in the research, told Business Insider via email.<h2 id="bbfbaaec-0fb8-4e72-a632-37f1006840ab">An asteroid type that rarely hits Earth did unbelievable damage</h2><div type="image" title="An artist's illustration of a massive asteroid colliding with Earth" height="1414" width="2121" msid="112576307" hostid="261" sizebytes="186530"></div>Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues examined samples from five <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-impact-simulation-experts-fear-congress-would-delay-action-2024-6">other impacts</a> that happened in the last 541 million years.Their levels of ruthenium showed that most of the objects were S-type asteroids, which are found in the inner solar system.Meanwhile, the samples taken from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, where the Chicxulub impactor hit, suggested that the object was a C-type asteroid, which typically live in the outer solar system.Earlier studies <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=d979a6041b8f5d7121d348980127dd645a72bea6c355d8e6bd6ce429583ce309&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2F24322">suggested</a> the Chicxulub impactor was a C-type asteroid but this latest ruthenium data adds to the supporting evidence, Smit told BI.About 80% of the meteorites that have hit Earth are fragments of S-type asteroids, Fischer-Gödde said.It's not clear why S-type impactors are more common, but Fischer-Gödde thinks it might be that C-types tend to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-simulated-asteroid-couldnt-stop-impact-europe-2021-5">break apart more</a> and don't make it through the Earth's atmosphere."So far we cannot really say whether one or the other asteroid type would be more likely to cause a mass extinction event," Fischer-Gödde said in a follow-up email. He said asteroids may have contributed to older mass extinction events, like the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=31f1c3e012df1524f07e36095b624c954adf7b450ab4f9552ae32e03b640b8fe&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalgeographic.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fmass-extinction">one</a> during the Late Devonian period. Future research could explain the origins of these asteroid strikes as well.However, the devastation from the Chicxulub impactor shows that a C-type can be disastrous for Earth. It was a combination of factors, from its size to where it hit, that led to its widespread destruction."It's a big kind of cosmic coincidence, and we all should be thankful for this because otherwise maybe the planet would look very different nowadays," Fischer-Gödde said.The researchers published their findings in the journal <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4868">Science</a>.

Scientists think they've found the origin of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. It could help prevent a future mass extinction on Earth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A giant "city killer" asteroid will safely shoot past Earth today traveling at 41,000 mph.</li><li>Its closest approach to Earth will be 1.77 million miles, over seven times the distance to the moon.</li></ul>NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has spotted a giant <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-predicts-exact-date-asteroid-hit-earth-atomic-bomb-bennu-2023-9">"city killer" asteroid</a> flying toward Earth. And this afternoon, it will reach its closest approach to our planet, about 1.77 million miles away.For reference, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mind-boggling-nasa-photo-shows-moon-distance-from-earth-2022-10">the moon</a> is about 239,000 miles from Earth, so this asteroid will be 7.4 times as far from Earth as the moon is. The speedy space rock is expected to be zipping along at about 41,000 mph and measures roughly 890 feet across, or roughly the size of a US football stadium, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroid-watch/next-five-approaches">NASA</a>.<div type="image" title="View of a football stadium from above." height="2051" width="1461" msid="107369399" hostid="261" sizebytes="513156"></div>Experts sometimes call asteroids this size "city killers" because they're capable of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">destroying an entire city</a> if they collide with an inhabited part of Earth.Still, this asteroid will be too small and far away to see without a telescope. It will be about 10,000 times fainter than the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/type-be-vampire-stars-secret-helper-2023-11">faintest stars</a> visible to the naked eye, Gianluca Masi, an astrophysicist and the scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project, told Business Insider over email.But if you want to catch a glimpse of the asteroid as it whizzes by, you're in luck!Masi and his colleagues will be recording the event live starting at 1 p.m. ET today. You can watch the livestream on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CtdiyL86JE&amp;ab_channel=TheVirtualTelescopeProject">YouTube</a> or in the video below.The livestream will track Asteroid 2008 OS7 as it flies by Earth. Viewers will be able to distinguish it as a tiny dot moving past other fixed tiny dots, aka stars, in the background. The livestream will last about 45 minutes, Masi said.VTP has recorded other flybys like this, and it's "something always very fascinating to see," Masi told BI.<h2>About Asteroid 2008 OS7</h2>Asteroid 2008 OS7 orbits the sun every 962 days. After passing by Earth, it will continue along its oval-shaped path through our solar system.Its oblong-shaped orbit means that each time the asteroid approaches Earth, its distance from our planet varies significantly.For example, the website <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/2008-os7">Space Reference</a> estimates that upon its next close approach, in July 2037, it will be about 9.7 million miles from Earth.<h2>Potentially hazardous asteroids</h2>Asteroid 2008 OS7 is what <a target="_blank" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/about/neo_groups.html">NASA calls</a> a "potentially hazardous" asteroid because of its size and how close it flies past Earth.An asteroid is considered potentially hazardous if it is at least 460 feet in diameter and orbits Earth within a distance of about 4.65 million miles.Scientists have identified more than <a target="_blank" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">34,000 near-Earth objects</a>. Just over 2,300 have been designated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.space.com/ai-finds-first-potentially-dangerous-asteroid">potentially hazardous</a>.But NASA suspects there are many more out there that haven't been discovered. If a giant asteroid were on course to hit Earth, we'd need <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5#:~:text=NASA%20is%20developing%20a%20space%20telescope%20to%20track%20asteroids&amp;text=NASA%20is%20planning%20a%20mission,into%20Earth's%20orbit%20in%202026.">five to 10 years of warning</a> to destroy or deflect it.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/near-earth-object-surveyor">Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission</a>, set to launch in September 2027. It would send an infrared space telescope into Earth's orbit to expand NASA's search for near-Earth objects that could threaten our planet.

A football stadium-sized asteroid will blaze by Earth today. Here's how to watch the potentially hazardous 'city killer' live.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of hitting our planet on September 24, 2182, NASA said.</li><li>It would release as much energy as about 24 nuclear bombs, so NASA is keeping a close eye on it. </li></ul>What are you doing on September 24, 2182? You may want to clear your calendar because scientists think an asteroid may hit Earth. NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid Bennu, a 1,610-foot-wide <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">cosmic object</a> that could smash into our planet.If Bennu were to hit the Earth, it would slam into the surface at about seven miles per second. It is so big that it could release 1,400 megatons of energy, <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=101955" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per a NASA calculation</a> — which is at least 24 times as powerful as the nuclear weapon, the Tsar Bomba. Thankfully, the chances of this happening are very slim — about 1 in 2,700, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-spacecraft-provides-insight-into-asteroid-bennus-future-orbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per a 2021 study</a>.Still, NASA is interested enough in Bennu to launch a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-probe-returning-from-asteroid-with-2-oz-of-asteroid-space-rock-2021-5">seven-year-long mission</a> to study it, which is due to bring back a precious sample from the asteroid in a dramatic landing on Sunday.This mission could help us better forecast the future of our cosmic neighbor, but it could also provide unprecedented insight into the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-earth-tectonic-plates-billion-years-2021-2">formation of the Earth</a>. <h2>Bennu is bigger than the Empire State Building</h2>Bennu belongs to a category of asteroids called "city-killers." That means that if it were to hit the Earth — the probability of which is zero until 2,100 and very small after that, per NASA — it would be powerful enough to flatten a large city. <div type="image" title="A animated gif shows a model of Bennu next to a picture of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel tower, both of which are about as tall as the asteroid is big." height="359" width="720" msid="103866263" hostid="261"></div>The diamond-shaped asteroid is no stranger to Earth's neighborhood. Its long orbit around the sun means it approaches the Earth about every six years. But it usually keeps a polite distance from us — it's never come closer than about <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=Bennu&amp;view=OPC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3 million miles</a> from Earth.As it makes its way around the solar system, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacecraft-asteroid-landing-osiris-rex-2020-10">Bennu's orbit</a> can change, and that's where it gets a little riskier. To make its 2182 appointment with the Earth, Bennu will need to pass within a very small window in space — a "<a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gravitational keyhole</a>" — in 2135. That would shift its orbit perfectly to line up with our planet.But there's still a 99.96% chance it will miss us on that date. <h2>We need to know more about large Earth-bound asteroids</h2>Even though the risk is low, large asteroids near Earth need to be taken seriously. Of the ones we know, most pose <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">little to no</a> risk to our planet.But the concern is that these kinds of objects could be hiding from view, meaning NASA can only spot them moments before they hit.<div type="image" title="A animated gif shows Bennu from all sides as it is being rotated around. The diamond-shaped grey asteroid is covered in boulders." height="900" width="900" msid="103866265" hostid="261"></div>NASA estimates that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">60% of the city-killer-sized</a> asteroids that could come in proximity to Earth are unknown at this time, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planet-killer-asteroid-could-threaten-earth-in-a-few-millennia-2022-10">even bigger rocks</a> could be hidden in the light of the sun, a known blindspot for observation from Earth. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chelyabinsk-meteor-mystery-3-years-later-2016-2?jwsource=cl">Chelyabinsk incident</a> provided a stark reminder of this fact in 2013 when a house-sized asteroid unexpectedly appeared over the city before exploding, breaking windows, damaging buildings, and injuring more than 1,400 people.<div type="image" title="asteroid russia Chelyabinsk" height="3744" width="4992" msid="103866266" hostid="261"></div>That's why NASA has been working to improve its forecasting of so-called Near Earth Objects.Studying an object like Bennu, which is easy to observe and comes close enough to Earth that we can send a mission there, is important for understanding more about these objects. NASA's mission to Bennu, a probe called Osiris-Rex that was launched in 2016, could provide more clues about how asteroids sail in the cosmos. For instance, one of the mission's objectives is to understand how the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">light from the sun,</a> as it is absorbed and re-radiated, could affect Bennu's orbit.<h2>Bennu could shed light on our planet's birth</h2>There's more to Bennu than its destructive potential, and that's what NASA is most interested in for Osiris-Rex.Bennu was likely created at about the same time as our planet, about 4.5 billion years ago, <a href="https://beta.science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/osiris-rex-faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA said</a>.Traces of what happened at that time have long been erased from our planet, under millions of years of erosion. But Bennu could still be carrying elements from then, frozen in time as it sails through the cosmos, per NASA.That's why NASA is eagerly awaiting the return of its Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which is carrying a few ounces of precious dust collected from Bennu in 2020.<div type="image" title="OSIRIS REx collection" height="1312" width="1749" msid="103866269" hostid="261"></div>This little probe, which has been sailing back from Bennu since May 10, 2021, should deliver its payload, a capsule containing the precious sample, as it passes about 63,000 miles from the Earth in the early hours of Sunday morning. The capsule is planned to fall back to Earth later Sunday morning, landing in Utah around 10:55 a.m. ET.

NASA scientists calculated the exact date an asteroid could hit Earth with the force of at least 24 nuclear bombs. Thankfully, it's a long way off.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA works with a worldwide coalition of astronomers to find and track dangerous asteroids.</li><li>In the event of an impending hazardous asteroid strike, NASA already has its plan in place to alert the public.</li></ul>When the Chicxulub impactor, a six-mile-wide asteroid, struck Earth 66 million years ago, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaurs-going-extinct-before-asteroid-hit-earth-study-2021-6">dinosaurs had no warning</a>. If an asteroid that size hit Earth today, a shock wave two million times more powerful than a hydrogen bomb would flatten forests and trigger tsunamis. A seismic pulse equal to a magnitude 10 earthquake would crumble cities. And long after the impact, a cloud of hot dust, ash, and steam would blot out the sun, plunging the Earth into freezing cold. <div type="image" title="An artists depiction of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs" height="1449" width="2070" msid="107779797" hostid="261" sizebytes="373936"></div>But at least we'd probably know it was coming ahead of time. And if NASA has anything to say about it, we may even be able to prevent the apocalypse. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office is tasked with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-nasa-shouldnt-waste-time-moon-polls-say-2023-8">finding, tracking, and assessing the risk</a> associated with potentially hazardous asteroids in our solar system.“We definitely want to find all those before they find us,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/lindley-johnson/">Lindley Johnson</a>, Lead Program Executive for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office.To do that, NASA works with a global coalition of astronomers called the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN). Here’s what they would do if an apocalyptic asteroid strike was headed toward Earth. <h2>An international warning system </h2>In the event that a dangerous asteroid is headed toward Earth, IAWN has procedures in place to notify the public. First, the party members who detected the threat would share their observations across the IAWN network to verify their findings and assess the danger.Once all parties agree that Earth should brace for impact, NASA would send out an alert.“I don’t have a red phone on my desk or anything,” Johnson said. “But we do have formal procedures by which notification of a serious impact would be provided.”If the asteroid was headed toward the US, NASA would notify the White House, and the government would release a formal statement to the public. If it was big enough to pose an international threat, IAWN would notify the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.<h2>Hunting for asteroids </h2>An asteroid is considered “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-warns-asteroid-skyscraper-football-stadium-size-pass-earth-watch-2024-2">potentially hazardous</a>” if it is larger than roughly 460 feet across and intersects Earth’s orbit at a minimum distance of 0.5 astronomical units, which is half the distance between Earth and the sun. There are about 2,300 known potentially hazardous asteroids out there, and roughly 153 of them are larger than 0.6 miles across. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">That’s big enough to trigger a catastrophe if one struck Earth.</a>To find and track them, NASA and the other IAWN partners look for new asteroids in addition to tracking ones that have already been discovered. All their observations get compiled into a database at the Minor Planet Center.So far, IAWN has found over 34,000 near-Earth asteroids. With enough observational data, NASA can confidently predict their orbits at least a century into the future, Johnson said.There’s a slim chance that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-predicts-exact-date-asteroid-hit-earth-atomic-bomb-bennu-2023-9">potentially hazardous Bennu asteroid</a> could hit Earth in 159 years, triggering an explosion equal to 24 nuclear bombs. But the odds of that happening are only about one in 2,700, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-spacecraft-provides-insight-into-asteroid-bennus-future-orbit">according to a 2021 study</a>.If Bennu does head toward Earth, NASA has a few tricks up its sleeve to defend our planet.<h2>Defending Earth</h2>Most of the time, IAWN catches oncoming asteroids long before they become an immediate threat to Earth, according to Johnson. But NASA would need at least five to 10 years of advanced notice to prevent the apocalypse from an approaching asteroid. In 2021, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-crashes-dart-spacecraft-into-asteroid-to-test-planetary-defense-2022-9">NASA launched its first planetary defense test mission</a>. It rammed an uncrewed spacecraft into an asteroid to shift its orbit away from Earth.<div type="image" title="An illustration of a spacecraft flying in front of an asteroid" height="1376" width="2180" msid="107779800" hostid="261" sizebytes="184652"></div>The mission was a success, and NASA <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-driver-asks-nasa-save-earth-from-world-ending-asteroids-2023-3">plans to test more deflection techniques</a> in the future. A developing “gravity tractor” technique would send a spacecraft to stay in position next to the asteroid and allow the gravitational interaction to pull the asteroid out of its orbit. NASA is also working on a technique that uses an ion beam to shift an asteroid's course.But if the threat was coming in less than five years, NASA wouldn’t have time to deflect the asteroid. Then, it might resort to destruction to minimize and disperse the impact.If NASA only had a few months of warning, then <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5">there’s not much it could do to save Earth</a>.Thankfully, IAWN’s strategy is to find asteroids decades, if not centuries, before the impact. “That gives us plenty of time to then try to do something about them while they’re still in space, so that we completely avoid any catastrophe here on Earth,” Johnson said.

NASA explains how it would alert the public of an apocalyptic asteroid strike 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists have uncovered traces of what they think could be the world's largest asteroid impact. </li><li>The structure, hidden in the ground in Australia, is thought to be about 300 miles across.</li></ul>The world's largest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-oldest-meteor-crater-australia-2020-1">asteroid impact</a>, 300 miles across, could be hidden in the Australian ground. Scientists have been tracing "magnetic" and "gravity" patterns spreading out in circles from a point about 10 miles from Deniliquin in New South Wales, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meteor-australia-stardust-older-than-sun-2020-1">Australia</a>. The structure, the scientists say, could be the remnants of an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">enormous asteroid impact</a> that hit the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. If confirmed, it would be the largest asteroid impact on record. <h2>The memory of the impact is hidden in the ground</h2>One would think finding the world's largest asteroid impact should be fairly easy. But the reality is very different. It is true that asteroid impacts <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-evidence-suggests-the-worlds-largest-known-asteroid-impact-structure-is-buried-deep-in-southeast-australia-209593">create massive geological structures</a>.The force of the impact is so strong it can bend the Earth's crust, creating ripples similar to those a rock makes when hitting a pond, Andrew Glickson, a paleo-geophysicist from the Australian Geological Survey Organization, said in a post in The Conversation August 10. But if this impact happened, hundreds of millions of years of erosions would have erased most of the visible features of the event. Still, scientists can look for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-struck-perfect-angle-to-doom-dinosaurs-study-2020-5">telltale signs</a> left behind, with a little patience, Glickson said.Five years of ground surveys around the area of Deniquilin have uncovered "radial faults," circular fractures that radiate from a central structure, Glickson and his colleague Tony Yeates said in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195122002487?via%3Dihub">a peer-reviewed paper</a> published last year.These are accompanied by "small magnetic anomalies" around the center point. These were likely caused by molten rock oozing into the peaks and troughs left behind by the impact. Glickson said this so-called Deniliquin structure "spans up to 520 kilometers in diameter" or about 300 miles.That would be an impact bigger than any other documented on Earth. That includes the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-deepest-gold-mine-is-in-south-africa-2016-12?">Vredefort impact</a> structure in South Africa, which is thought to have been between 100 and 200 miles wide, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-triggered-underwater-volcanic-eruptions-2018-2">Chicxulub impact</a>, about 90 miles across, which scientists believed triggered the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. To confirm the finding, the scientists will aim to get physical evidence from the site itself. "For proof of impact, we'll need to collect physical evidence of shock, which can only come from drilling deep into the structure," said Glickson in the post. <h2>The asteroid may have caused one of Earth's mass extinctions</h2>Before the scientists can drill into the site, it will be difficult to know when exactly this asteroid would have hit.Glickson believes the impact happened when Australia was still part of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-continents-crystals-plate-tectonics-2017-1">Gondwana,</a> a supercontinent that broke off from Pangea and later turned into South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica.That would mean it would be at least 180 million years old, probably more. "Specifically, I think it may have triggered what's called the Hirnantian glaciation stage, which lasted between 445.2 and 443.8 million years ago," Glickson said in the post. This <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-6th-mass-extinction-2019-3">mass extinction event</a> was caused by an ice age that wiped out <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825209001652">85% of the planet's species</a>, 350 million years before the dinosaurs were wiped out, Glickson said. But the impact could be even older. Glickson said he could see it date back up to 514 million years.

A mystery 300-mile wide formation lurking beneath Australia may be the largest asteroid impact crater on Earth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Two NASA astronauts are still in space after Boeing's Starliner spacecraft faced delays.</li><li>The spacecraft's plight adds to the pressure on Boeing.</li></ul>When Boeing announced in 2015 that its $4.2 billion spacecraft would be named Starliner, NASA officials hailed the manufacturer's innovation as a <a target="_blank" href="https://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/04/boeing-names-its-commercial-spaceship-the-starliner/">"great victory"</a> that heralded the start of a new age of space exploration.Nearly a decade later, that new era is off to a rocky start.NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni William are still <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-nasa-starliner-astronauts-stuck-in-space-2024-6">in space</a> after the Starliner spacecraft, which was designed to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-redo-failed-nasa-spaceship-flight-to-space-station-2021-7">ferry NASA personnel to and from the International Space Station</a>, was hit by a series of issues on its maiden crewed voyage.The aviation giant's first commercial spaceship experienced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-extends-starliner-stay-space-station-helium-leaks-thruster-issues/">malfunctioning thrusters and several helium leaks</a> as it docked with the ISS.The two astronauts aboard Starliner were planned to be at the space station for a little over a week, but Boeing and NASA have delayed their return to Earth to sometime in July.The FT reported on Wednesday that Boeing said Starliner was performing well and the astronauts were not stranded. "It is a test flight," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/0a2ab3bc-03cc-499c-82f8-50cfe1a52103">the company said.</a> "The mission is still going and it is going well."It echoes similar previous comments by both Boeing and NASA that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6pp29gdwe6o#:~:text=Nasa%20had%20earlier%20stated%20in,free%20flight%20activity%20following%20undocking.%E2%80%9D">Starliner is safe and operating effectively</a>.Officials have stressed that the latest delay is simply to allow ground teams to assess the five helium leaks and thruster issues the craft has experienced.Still, Starliner's teething issues add to the multitude of woes facing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-ceo-steps-down-read-dave-calhoun-staff-memo-2024-3">outgoing Boeing CEO David Calhoun</a>.The airplane maker has been in a state of crisis since the door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane flown by Alaska Airlines <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-airlines-flight-window-portland-oregon-california-2024-1">blew out in midair earlier this year</a>.Since then, a series of whistleblowers have come forward with allegations about<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-whistleblower-777-787-plane-safety-production-2024-4"> Boeing's approach to safety</a>, with one describing a "schedule over safety" culture in which employees were pressured to "overlook" concerns.The company previously told BI that those allegations were not representative of the work it has done to "ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft."Boeing is facing federal investigations into the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-opens-criminal-investigation-alaska-airlines-blowout-report-2024-3">door blowout incident</a> and a Southwest Airlines flight, which experienced a potentially dangerous <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722j0rryrxo">"Dutch roll" movement</a> while in the air.The company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutors-recommend-doj-federal-criminal-charges-against-boeing-report-2024-6">could also soon be hit by criminal charges</a> after the Department of Justice accused it of violating a settlement agreement over two 737 Max 8 crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.It's no wonder that Boeing is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeings-candidates-for-ceo-keep-turning-it-down-wsj-2024-6">reportedly struggling</a> to recruit Calhoun's successor.The company has faced furious criticism from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-criticism-boeing-has-faced-from-airline-chiefs-for-the-737-max-2024-2">lawmakers and airlines</a>, with the CEO of Boeing's biggest customer, United, describing the Alaska Airlines incident as "the straw that broke the camel's back."At a Senate hearing last week, the company was accused of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-ceo-david-calhoun-proud-of-safety-record-senate-hearing-2024-6">"cutting corners" on safety</a>. Sen. Richard Blumenthal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=encNQN1yg-I">described it</a> as a "moment of reckoning" for the company.Understandably, repeated Starliner delays are a setback that Boeing does not need. When it launched earlier this month, the spacecraft was already years late and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/26/boeing-has-lost-1point5-billion-developing-starliner-spacecraft-for-nasa.html">$1.5 billion over budget</a>. Boeing is also lagging behind rival SpaceX, which has been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launches-historic-rocket-mission-nasa-astronauts-demo-2-2020-5">transporting astronauts to the ISS since 2020</a>.SpaceX founder <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> never misses an opportunity to trash-talk a rival, and Boeing's plight is no exception.The billionaire has frequently criticized Boeing on X, posting that the company had too many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-too-many-non-technical-managers-starliner-boeing-2024-5">"non-technical managers"</a> and calling out Calhoun's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-beefing-with-boeing-again-over-ceos-accountancy-degree-2024-6">lack of an engineering background</a>.NASA and Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Starliner still hasn't returned to Earth. The repeated delays may be the next big headache for Boeing.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/adam-driver-did-not-go-house-of-gucci-wrap-party-2022-1">Adam Driver</a> asked NASA how it would save Earth from an incoming asteroid.</li><li>No <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">city-killer asteroids</a> are known to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planet-killer-asteroid-could-threaten-earth-in-a-few-millennia-2022-10">a threat to Earth</a>, but NASA hasn't catalogued all of them.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/adam-driver-said-son-hates-movies-wont-watch-new-film-2023-3">Adam Driver</a> sat down with NASA to talk about avoiding an asteroid apocalypse.The actor is launching a new film, called "65," where he plays a space pilot who crash-lands on Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, then discovers the approach of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaur-fossil-from-day-extinction-asteroid-hit-earth-scientists-claim-2022-4">the asteroid which drove dinosaurs' extinction</a>."What if we found out that an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-nasa-dart-impacted-looks-like-comet-hubble-photo-reveals-2022-10">asteroid</a> like this were going to hit our planet today?" Driver asked in a video NASA posted last week.Don't worry about such a large asteroid — an extinction-level space rock — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comet-heading-earth-bright-outshine-stars-scientists-c-2023-a32023-3">approaching Earth</a> anytime soon, NASA astronomer Kelly Fast was quick to clarify."Those large ones, most of them have been found. They're easier to spot. There are fewer of them," Fast, who manages NASA's near-Earth object observations, said in the video. "But there are asteroids still left to be found that aren't that large, but still are of a size that could do damage should they impact."Specifically, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-advances-asteroid-tracking-space-telescope-after-years-of-limbo-2021-6">NASA is on the hunt for asteroids</a> larger than 140 meters (460 feet) wide. Those are big enough to flatten a city. Congress had mandated that NASA identify and track 90% of those city-killers, to ensure their orbits aren't taking them on a collision course with Earth."If an asteroid were discovered that were going to impact Earth, NASA's role would be to inform planning, to give information about the asteroid, about where the impact would happen, about what the effects might be," Fast said.The agency also has the ability to intervene and push such an asteroid away from our planet. Three NASA missions are filling the planetary-defense toolbelt.<h2>NASA can slam an asteroid with a spacecraft — and it already did</h2><div type="image" title="sequence of images showing asteroid from a distance then close up then video cutting out" height="1000" width="2000" msid="98951923" hostid="261" sizebytes="58056"></div>Driver's next question was about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-crashes-dart-spacecraft-into-asteroid-to-test-planetary-defense-2022-9">NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid</a> called Dimorphos last year, to see if that push could change its orbit around a larger asteroid.It was a test of NASA's simplest option for a deadly asteroid: With enough years' notice, a probe could give the space rock enough of a nudge to change its orbit around the sun and take it off its collision course with Earth.<div type="image" title="LICIACube image showing the aftermath of the DART impact." height="1080" width="1080" msid="98951925" hostid="261" sizebytes="12896"></div>"Would that work? Could that be an effective, uh, means of saving the planet from an asteroid?" Driver asked.It worked when DART did it. The spacecraft's impact altered Dimorphos's orbit by 33 minutes, pushing it closer to its parent asteroid.<div type="image" title="Infographic showing the effect of DART spacecraft impact on the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos" height="1520" width="2600" msid="98951926" hostid="261" sizebytes="109614"></div>Other options that scientists have pitched include shooting the asteroid with lasers, or launching a nuclear bomb at it. NASA hasn't tried either of those approaches."DART showed that we do have technology for diverting an asteroid in space, but there is still a lot left to be done," Fast said.<h2>NASA is studying and tracking down near-Earth asteroids</h2>Fast added that NASA's approach to any asteroid would depend on the asteroid's size and composition.Another NASA mission, called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-osiris-rex-asteroid-spacecraft-stored-pounds-of-rock-2020-10">Osiris-Rex, landed on the surface of an asteroid</a> in 2020 and scooped up its rocky space dust.<div type="image" title="osiris rex side by side skitch" height="1500" width="2000" msid="98951927" hostid="261" sizebytes="178566"></div>Those samples are set to return to Earth later this year, and they'll help scientists understand the composition of space rocks, and inform future study of any hazardous asteroids that may be discovered.The third leg of NASA's asteroid-defense plan is a mission that Driver didn't ask about. It's a space telescope specifically designed for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-advances-asteroid-tracking-space-telescope-after-years-of-limbo-2021-6">tracking down city-killer asteroids</a>. It's called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, or NEO Surveyor.That mission would help NASA fulfill its Congressional mandate to catalogue those asteroids. That's crucial, because <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5">NASA has to discover any incoming asteroid years before it impacts Earth</a>, so the agency has enough time to study it and make a plan.<div type="image" title="neocam asteroid hunter spacecraft discovery nasa jpl caltech" height="1476" width="1968" msid="98951928" hostid="261" sizebytes="169106"></div>The infrared telescope NEO Surveyor is currently in development, planned for launch in 2026.Even though Driver and Fast didn't discuss that mission, the actor seemed impressed with NASA's efforts."Thank you for your work in keeping the planet safe from world-ending asteroids plummeting into our planet," Driver said.

Adam Driver asked NASA how it plans to save Earth from world-ending asteroids

<ul><li>Dual asteroids are rare and even more infrequent when they are big in size.</li><li>Asteroid 467317 (2000 QW7) is as big as the Shanghai Tower — the second tallest building in the world.</li><li>The two asteroids are set to pass by Earth in the same 24-hour window on 14 September 2019.</li></ul>Two asteroids already whizzed past Earth this week and now, two more are set to fly by on 14 September 2019. But this time around, the pair will be bigger and faster — but also further away. The first asteroid, which will be bigger than the Empire State Building and India’s own Statue of Unity, is set to whiz past Earth at a speed of 23,000 kilometers per hou. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) estimates that the asteroid dubbed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/The-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-Earth-in-2019/3467317-2000-QW7/slideshow/70686174.cms">467317 (2000 QW7)</a> could be anywhere between 290 meters to 650 meters in diameter. So, at its largest, the asteroid measures around the same size as the Shanghai Tower — the second tallest building in the world. And, it won’t be alone. In the same 24-hour window, Asteroid <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/The-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-Earth-in-2019/504800-2010-CO1/slideshow/70686170.cms">504800 (2010 CO1)</a>, estimated to be between 120 meters to 260 meters in diameter, will be flying past the planet at a speed of 51,696 kilometers per hour. Both them of them are going to be around 5.3 million kilometers from Earth as they make their visit. This is the second time in the span of a month that dual asteroids are whizzing past the planet. On 28 August 2019, two asteroids — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/two-asteroids-bigger-than-the-japan-tsunamis-are-coming-eerily-close-to-earth-today/articleshow/70870605.cms">2019 OU1 and 2019 QS</a>— flew past Earth within hours of each other. Don’t fear, but who’s gonna be there? NASA’s Center of Near Earth Object Studies is tracking both the asteroids and do not seem to pose any danger as of now. Should that change, NASA’s current defense plan against any incoming asteroids is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — which is still under development. Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of SpaceX, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/elon-musk-says-we-have-no-defence-against-asteroid-god-of-chaos/articleshow/70748251.cms">opines</a> that, “A big rock will eventually hit Earth eventually and we currently have no defence.” In June, astronomers have already shown that in case an asteroid poses a threat — then can move people out of harm’s away in time. When asteroid 2019 MO was barrelling towards Earth on 22 June 2019, scientists at the University of Hawaii used the ATLAS and Pan-STARRS telescopes to detect the asteroid’s path. They were able to confirm that the asteroid would burn up in the atmosphere, over the ocean, 400 kilometers away from San Juan. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/historys-most-famous-science-satellites-have-grown-to-enormous-proportions/articleshow/49279291.cms">ATLAS</a>, which is actually two telescopes in Hawaii — one on Big Island and the other on Maui — scans the skies every two days for asteroids that could be heading towards Earth. It claims to be able to detect small asteroids 12 hours in advance and bigger asteroids will be on their radar days before they’re anywhere near Earth. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-happens-when-an-asteroid-actually-hits-earth/articleshow/70732006.cms">What happens when an asteroid actually hits Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-asteroid-meteorite-and-meteor/articleshow/70654013.cms">An asteroid only turns into a meteor if it falls to Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-last-major-asteroid-to-hit-earth-destroyed-500-square-kilometers-and-it-could-have-been-much-worse/articleshow/70782507.cms">The last major asteroid to hit Earth destroyed 500 square kilometers — and it could have been much worse</a>

Another pair of asteroids is going to whiz past Earth on 14 September — Bigger, faster but further away

The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019

<ul><li>Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be flying past Earth today. </li><li>The asteroid will be travelling over ten times as fast as a rifle bullet. </li><li>It is around half the size of the Statue of Liberty. </li></ul>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/">Asteroid Watch</a> is on the lookout for an asteroid that will be zooming past Earth. And, it is faster than a bullet. The speed of an average rifle bullet is 3,276 kilometers per hour (kmph) but Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be flying at more than ten times that speed — at 35,350 kmph. Size matters On the one hand, Asteroid 2019 SR8 isn’t a very <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">big asteroid</a>. It measures between 20 meters to 44 meters in diameter — that’s half the height of the Statue of Liberty. On the other, its closest approach to Earth will only be 5 million kilometers from the planet. This may seem like a large distance but it’s enough for NASA to classify the incoming asteroid as a ‘close approach’ or a ‘near-Earth object’. It’s one of the many Apollo asteroids — an asteroid that orbits around the Sun and the Earth — to come visit. Final impact Even though Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be under the close, watchful eye of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the probability of an actual <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">asteroid impact</a> is low. Should the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/asteroid-hitting-earth-and-ending-life-has-to-be-bigger-than-the-one-that-killed-dinosaurs/articleshow/70893317.cms">asteroid’s trajectory change</a>, its small size dictates that it will probably break up in Earth’s atmosphere. That isn’t to say an asteroid exploding mid-air won’t be harmful. It will still produce a large amount of energy equivalent to multiple nuclear explosions. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/ufologist-claims-the-god-of-chaos-asteroid-will-strike-somewhere-over-europe/articleshow/71537022.cms">Ufologist claims the ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid will strike somewhere over Europe</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/asteroid-gets-caught-changing-colours-for-the-very-first-time/articleshow/70942978.cms">Asteroid gets caught changing colours for the very first time</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a>

Asteroid flying faster than a bullet will shoot past Earth today

<ul><li>Asteroid 2019 GT3 is going to fly past Earth on Friday at a speed of 49,000 kilometers. </li><li>The asteroid is about as big as a football stadium. </li><li>It's not on a collision course for Earth but is still one of the asteroids classified as 'potentially hazardous' by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). </li></ul>The Earth is under <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-asteroid-meteorite-and-meteor/articleshow/70654013.cms">constant threat</a> of asteroids but most fly past and don't actually hit the planet. Asteroid 2019 GT3 is one such asteroid that is 'potentially hazardous' but will be at least 7.5 million kilometers away from the Earth. Asteroid 2019 GT3 is a new addition to the NASA's <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/">Asteroid Watch</a> only discovered earlier this year in April 2019. It's about as big as a stadium with a diameter between 170 meters and 380 meters. When it blasts past Earth on 6 September 2019, it will be flying at a speed of 49,000 kilometers per hour. "Potentially hazardous asteroids are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth," states the Center for Near Earth Object Studies "Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.5 [astronomical units] or less and an absolute magnitude of 22.0 or less are considered PHAs," it added. Asteroid's 'potential' for destruction There's no chance of Asteroid 2019 GT3 striking Earth. Even if it were to somehow be on a collision course for the planet, the asteroid wouldn't cause any kind of '<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">mass extinction</a>' but it would definitely take out a small city. Scientists believe that an asteroid impact would result in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-happens-when-an-asteroid-actually-hits-earth/articleshow/70732006.cms">'nuclear'-like winter</a> on the planet. It would only take an asteroid as big as a house travelling at 48,000 kilometers an hour to have an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-last-major-asteroid-to-hit-earth-destroyed-500-square-kilometers-and-it-could-have-been-much-worse/articleshow/70782507.cms">impact equivalent</a> to that of the Hiroshima bomb blast. By that comparison, Asteroid 2019 GT3 is bigger and faster. And, it's even more concerning in light of even more massive asteroids that are planned to come uncomfortably close to Earth in the near future. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-nearly-half-the-size-of-mount-everest-might-be-on-a-collision-course-for-earth-in-less-than-a-year/articleshow/70698774.cms">1992 OR2</a>, for instance, is half the size of Everest and will only be 6.4 million kilometers from Earth as it flies by on 29 April 2020. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-last-major-asteroid-to-hit-earth-destroyed-500-square-kilometers-and-it-could-have-been-much-worse/articleshow/70782507.cms">The last major asteroid to hit Earth destroyed 500 square kilometers — and it could have been much worse</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">It might not be 'dinosaur destroying' but it's only a matter of time before an asteroid hits Earth</a>

A 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will whiz past earth at 49,000 km/hr on Friday

<ul><li>Three asteroids — 2019 RX1, 2019 QZ3 and 2019 RG2 — are going to be flying past Earth today.</li><li>Asteroid 2019 RG2's close approach to Earth will be uncomfortably close at 500,000 kilometers.</li><li>Asteroid 2019 RG2 will also be moving at record speeds of 79,164 kilometers per hour.</li></ul>Three asteroids are scheduled to fly past Earth today — and one of them is going to come as close as half a million kilometers from the surface. This is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-happens-when-an-asteroid-actually-hits-earth/articleshow/70732006.cms">closest any asteroid</a> will get to Earth over the next three months. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-discovered-a-week-ago-will-be-flying-closest-to-earth-tonight/articleshow/70992905.cms">single asteroid</a> flying past Earth isn't an anomaly — it happens on a daily basis. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/two-asteroids-bigger-than-the-japan-tsunamis-are-coming-eerily-close-to-earth-today/articleshow/70870605.cms">Two asteroids</a> whizzing past the planet is a tad rarer, as it happens only once a month or so. Three asteroids on the same day, on the other hand, is exceptionally rare. Today, asteroids <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20RX1">2019 RX1</a>, <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20QZ3">2019 QZ3</a> and <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20RG2">2019 RG2</a> will be making their visit close to Earth. Aside from the fact that there will be three asteroids gunning for the planet, it's even rarer for one to get this close. Most asteroids that approach the Earth are normally at least two million kilometers away. But 2019 RG2 will be a mere 524,000 kilometers away from our planet. Why size matters All three asteroids are extremely small. Asteroid 2019 QZ3 is the biggest of the three with a diameter of 38 meters, but that's only as big as the Lotus Temple in Delhi. 
 
 <div type="image" title="Lotus_Temple_at_Night_edited" msid="71042307" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>




 Asteroid 2019 RX1 is smaller and only 28 meters in diameter — about the size of the Gateway of India in Mumbai. 
 
 <div type="image" title="Gateway_of_India_(13985936311)_edited" msid="71042355" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Gateway of India in Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 2019 RG2, which will be the closest to Earth, is the smallest. It's only 11 meters in size — twice the height of an average human being. Fast and furious Because 2019 RG2 is so small, it will travel at extremely fast at speed of 79,164 kilometers per hour. This will make it the second fastest asteroid to fly past Earth in September — and even October and November. In comparison, asteroid RX1 will be travelling at nearly half the speed of 47,988 kilometers. 2019 QZ 3, the slowest of the three, will be at a mere 26,892 kilometers. The only asteroid that will be faster is the one scheduled to whizz past Earth on 24 September 2019 at a speed of 80,136 kilometers per hour. But it will be much further away — 4 million kilometers away. None of the three asteroids are on a collision course with Earth, as no alert has been issued by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Nonetheless, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory classified them as ‘potentially hazardous' and put them on <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/">Asteroid Watch</a>. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-asteroid-meteorite-and-meteor/articleshow/70654013.cms">An asteroid only turns into a meteor if it falls to Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-nearly-half-the-size-of-mount-everest-might-be-on-a-collision-course-for-earth-in-less-than-a-year/articleshow/70698774.cms">An asteroid nearly half the size of Mount Everest might be on a collision course for Earth in less than a year</a>

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