
The asteroid is also big and bright enough for asteroid trackers to consider it potentially hazardous.
Although the upcoming flyby poses no risk to Earth’s safety, there is a slim chance the gravitational push and pull of other objects in the solar system could influence DT3’s orbit.
NASA said: “Potentially hazardous asteroids are about 150 meters – almost 500 feet – or larger, roughly twice as big as the Statue of Liberty is tall.
“They approach Earth's orbit to within 7.5 million kilometres – about 4.6 million miles.
“By comparison, when Mars and Earth are at their closest, they are about 53 million kilometres – about 33 million miles – apart.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment