WORLD

NASA says an asteroid will have a close brush with Earth. But not until the 2100s.

The asteroid Bennu, captured by the OSIRIS-REX spacecraft in 2018 | NASA / GODDARD / UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA / VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Kenneth Chang
The New York Times

Aug 12, 2021

An asteroid the size of the Empire State Building has a slight chance of hitting Earth.

Don’t worry. You’ll long be dead before that has any chance of happening. So will your children. Probably all of your grandchildren, too.

At a news conference Wednesday, NASA scientists said there was a 1-in-1,750 chance that an asteroid named Bennu, which is a bit wider than the Empire State Building is tall, could collide with Earth between now and 2300.

NASA says an asteroid will have a close brush with Earth. But not until the 2100s.

In your social network

In your inbox

In your social network

In your inbox