Monster mile-wide asteroid to make dramatic ‘near Earth pass’ today, with another to whizz past at 31,000mph next week
NASA say second space rock is on 'highly uncertain orbit'
A MASSIVE mile-wide asteroid is due to make a dramatic “near Earth pass” this afternoon.
Scientists revealed the colossal rock hurtling through space towards the planet was due to miss by 7.3 million miles – a virtual whisker in space terms.
The asteroid – named 2004 BO41, after the year it was first discovered – could wipe out life on earth if it was to make landfall.
But experts from US space agency NASA are not worried about a collision – with this asteroid anyway.
Another rock named 2016 QL44 has also been identified – and heading in our direction on “a highly uncertain orbit”.
It is smaller than 2004 BO41, at just 61 metres in length, so it would likely not cause the apocalypse.
However, if it was to crash into a city it would cause the same damage as several nuclear bombs.
It is believed 2016 QL44 will also miss earth – predicted to whizz by at 31,000mph in ten days’ time, on September 17.
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But scientists are keeping a close eye on it in case of a miscalculation or a change in course.
The space rock was coded as a nine of NASA’s scale – meaning scientists are the least certain about its flight path.
In 1908, a similar sized asteroid exploded above Siberia in what has now been dubbed The Tunguska Event.
The impact flattened more than 80million trees and sent a colossal, earthquake-like shockwave through Russia measuring five on the Richter scale.
And in 2013, a meteor measuring just 13 metres in length blew apart above Chelyabinsk in Russia.
A bright light lit up the sky, windows in buildings were smashed and around 1,000 people were hurt.
A spokesman told the : "NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small.
"In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years.
"NASA has also made asteroid detection a top priority, and are developing strategies for identifying asteroids that could pose a risk to our planet."
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