NASA: Asteroid Expected To Pass 'Close To Earth' On March 8th

NASA: Asteroid About The Size Of A Basketball Court Will Pass 'Close To Earth

A small asteroid is expected pass earth on March 8, NASA has said.

The rock, named as 2013 TX68, will fly roughly 3 million miles from our planet although experts have said that it could whistle past at a closer range.

NASA's Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) stated: "The data indicate that this small asteroid will probably pass much farther away from Earth than previously thought."

Computer artwork portraying a near-earth asteroid

The minimum distance between us the asteroid could be as little as 15,000 miles, researchers have predicted.

However, Paul Chodas, manager of CNEOS said: "There is no concern whatsoever regarding this asteroid - unless you were interested in seeing it with a telescope."

Initially, scientists thought 2013 TX68's orbit would be as close as 11,000 miles. The reason for these large disparities boil down to a lack of data, NASA stated.

Included in their prediction is another flyby, which is set to happen on September 28, 2017 with odds of impact being "no more than 1-in-250-million."

Flybys in 2046 and 2097 have an even lower probability of impact, according to the space agency.

Chodas said: "The possibilities of collision on any of the three future flyby dates are far too small to be of any real concern."

"I fully expect any future observations to reduce the probability even more," he added. Back to work everyone.

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