Jakarta –
An asteroid that disappeared from scientists’ observations more than a decade ago has returned. Although the possibility is small, the asteroid could hit Earth this year.
NASA in a statement revealed the asteroid FT3, which was first discovered in 2007. However, scientists soon lost its flight path without knowing where it went. Following this, 2007 FT3 was categorized as a “lost asteroid”.
NASA estimates a 0.0000096 percent – or 1 in 10 million – chance of hitting our planet on March 3, 2030. However, there are other estimates that say 2007 FT3 has a 0.0000087 percent probability, or 1 in 11.5 million chance of hitting Earth on October 5, 2024.
If this asteroid hits Earth, it has the potential to release energy equivalent to the explosion of 2.6 billion tons of TNT. This was enough to cause a lot of regional damage, but not enough to trigger a global event as severe as the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The real threat to Earth, according to the NASA report, is actually asteroid 29075. This asteroid will hit the planet with the force of 75 billion tons of TNT, and experts say that is enough to end humanity.
Scientists, who first saw it in 1950, lost track of it for 50 years before finding its path.
29075 (1950 DA) has a 0.0029 percent chance, or 1 in 34,500, of hitting Earth on March 16, 2880. The object would release energy equivalent to 75 billion tons of TNT. This number is high enough to completely wipe out humanity, as reported by MSN.
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2024-01-02 01:15:17
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