NASA says 85-foot asteroid will pass Earth today; Check distance of approach, speed and more

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Space agencies such as NASA and ESA continue to monitor the orbits of asteroids for any potential collision scenarios.

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As per the details issued by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), an asteroid designated Asteroid 2024 GF3 is expected to pass Earth today, April 16.

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It is one of the three asteroids that will pass Earth on that day, alongside Asteroid 2024 GN2 and Asteroid 2024 GS5.

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This asteroid is expected to pass Earth at a distance of approximately 5.3 million kilometres, NASA says.

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It is already travelling towards Earth in its orbit at 46427 kilometres per hour which is almost as fast as Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)!

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Asteroid 2024 GF3 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth’s.

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In terms of size, the asteroid is almost 85 feet, making it almost as big as an aircraft. It is bigger than the Chelyabinsk asteroid that exploded over the Russian city in 2013.

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However, it is not big enough to pose any danger to Earth and has not been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object.