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Message: <blockquote data-quote="imhotep" data-source="post: 27058729" data-attributes="member: 562115"><h3>Once again an asteroid barely missed Earth last week, and no one knew it was coming. <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/oo.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":oo:" title="Oo    :oo:" data-shortname=":oo:" /></h3>An asteroid about the size of a refrigerator shot past Earth last week, and astronomers didn't know the object existed until hours after it was gone.It was a close call (from a cosmic perspective); the space rock's trajectory on Oct. 24 carried it over Antarctica within 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) of Earth — closer than some satellites — making it the third-closest asteroid to approach the planet without actually hitting it.Scientists were unaware of the object, dubbed Asteroid 2021 UA1, because it approached Earth's daytime side from the direction of the sun, so the comparatively dim and small visitor went undetected until about 4 hours after passing by at its closest point.But with a diameter of just 6.6 feet (2 meters), UA1 was too small to pose a threat. Even if it had struck Earth, most of its rocky body would have burned away in the atmosphere before it could hit the ground.For an object to be considered dangerous, it has to measure at least 460 feet (140 m) in diameter, NASA says. UA1 may not have been big enough to threaten the planet, but what about bigger asteroids that might be headed our way? NASA is also investigating defensive technologies for protecting Earth from possible collisions with larger space rocks, through deflection.The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), scheduled to launch Nov. 24, will test a method for diverting asteroids by hitting them with high-speed remote-controlled spaceships.Scientists will send the DART spacecraft hurtling into the near-Earth binary asteroid Didymos, which is shaped like a spinning top and has two bodies; the bigger one measures about 2,600 feet (780 m) in diameter, and its smaller moonlet measures around 520 feet (160 m) in diameter.</blockquote>

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