Our solar system is home to millions of renegade space rocks, and this week three particularly large ones will blaze past Earth.
On Monday (Feb. 27), an asteroid named 2012 DK31 will sail past our planet at a distance of about 3 million miles (4.8 million km).
Although the space rock poses no imminent threat to Earth, NASA classifies it as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) – meaning the rock is large enough and orbits close enough to Earth that it could cause serious damage if its trajectory changed and a collision occurred.
Two skyscraper-sized asteroids headed in Earth's direction this week
The closest of the three asteroids will miss Earth by roughly 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers), which is about ten times the distance between the Earth and the moon, according to NASA .
That's a relatively small distance when it comes to space, meaning the space agency is using the close flyby to collect data and help prepare for any future close approaches.
Skyscraper-sized asteroid to buzz Earth today! NASA Tracks Impending Earth Flyby | Tech News
NASA telescopes such as the Pans-STARRS1 located in Maui, Hawaii, and the Catalina Sky Survey situated near Tucson, Arizona, have conducted surveys that have detected numerous near-Earth objects like asteroids.
Using such advanced technology, NASA has recently discovered another asteroid that could potentially come close to Earth as early as today.
Are We Finally on the Cusp of Commercial Asteroid Mining?
Years after initial space-mining ventures went bust, startup AstroForge has announced two missions in 2023 to obtain rare-earth minerals from a near-Earth asteroid.
Asteroid mining is back in the news. In January, California-based startup AstroForge announced that in 2023 it will lay the foundations to become the first commercial company to mine an asteroid and bring the materials back to Earth.
Demystifying near-Earth asteroids | The Planetary Society
Space is vast, but Earth is not alone. Hundreds of thousands of objects known as near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) regularly come close to our planet's orbit. These NEAs come with a variety of physical properties, from solid rock to boulder-strewn rubble piles to dusty fluff balls.
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