There are videos on YouTube and being shared across social media warning of upcoming asteroid impacts with the Earth, and yet scientists don't seem so concerned.
So this little asteroid is the outlier case where we know it's coming for a visit, so there's time to stoke the online freak out machine.
That's because 2018 VP1 is estimated to be no wider than a few meters. An asteroid that size is likely to be almost completely burned up as it collides with our atmosphere.
In case you are keeping track:
OSIRIS-REx is One Rehearsal Away from Touching Asteroid Bennu | NASA
A massive asteroid shower hit Earth and the moon 800 million years ago, study says - CNN
(CNN) Over the course of Earth's ancient history, our planet has been blitzed with a variety of foreign objects, some of which may have triggered major events shaping this place we now call home.
Asteroid bigger than a blue whale to shoot by Earth THIS WEEKEND | Science | News | Express.co.uk
The space agency has also revealed it will be travelling at a staggering speed of 10.8 kilometres per second - or 38,880 kilometres per hour. At that speed, it could travel around the Earth in an hour.
According to NASA, asteroid 2020 OL4 is a NEO (Near Eath Object), giving NASA the perfect opportunity to study the history of the solar system.
NASA said on its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website: “NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighbourhood.
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Japan may extend Hayabusa2 asteroid mission to visit 2nd space rock | Space
Japan's Hayabusa2 mission is headed home from an asteroid called Ryugu, carrying a very special delivery of space rock, but Earth may not be the spacecraft's final destination.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which runs the mission, is evaluating a second stop for its space-rock investigation, according to recent statements. Such a mission extension, which would last more than a decade, could see Hayabusa2 orbit a second asteroid .
Arecibo Observatory Returns from Tropical Storm Isaias Lockdown to Track Asteroid for NASA – NASA
ORLANDO, Aug. 6, 2020 – The Earth has one less asteroid to worry about thanks to the research of an international team of scientists at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Asteroid 2020 NK1 was spotted in early July by the the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey team at the University of Hawaii. Little was known about the asteroid, making it difficult to predict exactly where the asteroid would travel in the future. It was estimated to be 1,600 feet in diameter, about the length of five football fields.
Main Belt asteroid Psyche might be the remnant of a planet that never fully formed
Modeling impact structures on Psyche contributes to our understanding of metallic bodies and how cratering processes on large metal objects differ from those on rocky and icy bodies, she noted.
The team provides the first 3-D models of the formation of Psyche's largest impact crater, and it is the first work to use impact crater models to inform asteroid composition. The 2-D and 3-D models indicate an oblique impact angle where an incoming object would have struck the asteroid's surface, deforming Psyche in a very specific and predictable manner, given the likely materials involved.
NASA spacecraft completes final test before collecting samples from asteroid Bennu -
A NASA spacecraft has completed its final test and is preparing to touch the surface of asteroid Bennu to return samples to Earth.
On Tuesday, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft got within 131 feet of the asteroid to practice its navigation and verify that its imaging, navigation and ranging systems are working.
The spacecraft moved very slowly, 0.2 mph, during the four-hour test. And because it took 16 minutes one way for signals to travel between Earth and the spacecraft, the OSIRIS-REx team sent commands to the spacecraft prior to its test. The spacecraft operated autonomously after the "Go" command was given.
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