In spite of small planet comes only 7.4 million km from Earth – about 30 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon, this is still the closest approach of the space rock to our planet since when it was discovered in 2007, according to the SpaceReference.org site of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the International Astronomical Union.
The asteroid has a diameter of about 110 to 200 meters, whizzing by at a terrifying speed of 47,950 km / h.
According to Live Science, this asteroid is classified as Apollo, which means it orbits the Sun and passes through the orbit of the Earth. There are about 15,000 asteroids in this class.
2007 FF1 orbits the Sun after 684 days or sometimes longer, frequently making close encounters. Its last approach was in August 2020, 17.3 million km from Earth.
2007 FF1 has made and will come close to Earth many times, being classified as a “potentially hazardous” class that Earth defense projects will have to target. NASA and other space agencies are still closely monitoring it.
But fortunately, the predictions are based on the calculation of the asteroid’s orbit, at least in the near future, it will not hit us. The next closest approach will occur in 2037 at a distance of 7.9 million km.
That does not mean, however, that it, or similar asteroids, does not pose a threat. Earth’s history has seen many similar events and often lead to mass extinctions, for example the dinosaurs also went extinct because of a colliding asteroid called Chicxulub.
In 2021, NASA took a major step forward in Earth’s defenses by launching a spacecraft to deflect the asteroid DART. DART will hit the asteroid Dimorphos head-on this fall, altering its orbit.
This is an exercise. If in the future an asteroid is predicted to hit us like Chicxulub, a “brother” of it will be launched with the aim of ejecting the asteroid from the “death” orbit.
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