ASTEROID HEADING TOWARDS EARTH
Loadshedding, lockdown and now an asteroid. Could 2020 be any more challenging?
While the entire planet is still in the midst of trying to come to grips with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, NASA has confirmed that an asteroid is heading towards our planet.
But, luckily, the chances of it hitting us is a mere 0.41%.
CNN reports that the asteroid will enter Earth’s atmosphere on the 2nd of November – ironically the day before the United States presidential election.
"Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approximately 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth. If it were to enter our planet’s atmosphere, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size," NASA said in a statement.
Only a few days ago, an asteroid flew just 2,945 kilometres over the Indian ocean. The Guardian reports that it’s the closest such an object has flown past Earth on record.
The object was known as 2020GC and is thought to have been about the same size as a large car.
According to Wikipedia, the last known impact of an object of 10 kilometres or more in diameter was at the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago.
Watch the Click On Detroit video below for a full explanation of the asteroid heading towards Earth.
Image credit: Live Science