Nearly two decades after astronomers lost sight of a 54-million-ton asteroid, NASA has eliminated the prospect of a collision with Earth. According to a November 2023 forecast, the 2007 FT3, often known as the “lost asteroid,” could reach Earth in 2024. However, the US space agency has denied these assertions. NASA issued a comment in reaction to GB News’ article, which stated that 2007 FT3 has a 1 in 11.5 million chance of reaching Earth on October 5, 2024. Scientists discovered the enormous space rock in 2007, hence its name. They eventually lost track of it and declared it a “lost asteroid.”
NASA began a mission to intercept the asteroid Apophis, popularly known as the ‘God of Chaos’
“There are no known asteroid impact threats to Earth at any time in the next century. NASA and its partners diligently watch the skies to find, track, and categorise asteroids and near-Earth objects (NEOs), including those who come close to Earth,” the space agency said. “An important note here is planetary scientists define the approach of asteroids that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit as close approaches. The larger an asteroid is, the easier it is for our planetary defence experts to find, meaning that their orbits around the sun are usually very well-known and understood for years or even decades,” NASA added.
Last December, NASA began a mission to intercept the asteroid Apophis, popularly known as the ‘God of Chaos’. In 2019, the large asteroid, which is nearly three times the size of Mount Everest, will pass within 20,000 miles of Earth’s orbit. Because of its close vicinity, Apophis is likely to be visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere.
