A total of three “rather large” asteroids have been found, one of which then crosses the Earth’s orbit. This could make 2022 AP7 a potentially dangerous asteroid.
The research team says it is the largest asteroid discovered since 2014. It has a diameter of about 1.1-2.3 kilometers. Any asteroid larger than 1 kilometer is considered a major threat to Earth.
If it gets to the point where the Earth is hit, the impact could be so great, according to the researchers, that “life as we know it will be destroyed.”
More asteroids are expected to be found near Earth in the next two years. But for now there is no reason to panic: according to the researchers, a possible collision will only happen in a few thousand years.
NASA mission
At the end of September, NASA managed to purposely crash a rocket into an asteroid. This happened about 11 million kilometers from Earth “flying in” at more than 24,000 kilometers per hour. This NASA mission was a test, intended to protect the Earth if an asteroid approaches our planet in the future.
