Earth's Close Call
By: Michael C. Fehn
Updated: February 15, 2013
An asteroid the size of half a football field is expected to zip by Earth on Friday.
As far as close calls go, this is about as close as any space rock has been to the planet in decades.
Discovered last year, this giant rock is traveling at a clip of nearly 20-thousand miles per hour. Although it's in the neighborhood of 35 meters in diameter, we don't have to worry about it striking earth.
It is, however, closer than some of our weather satellites...a mere 17-thousand miles away.
The other side of the world may see the asteroid go by Friday afternoon. Scientists hope that attempting to bounce radar off the asteroid will allow them to take photos of the mass and use it for future human exploration.
As far as close calls go, this is about as close as any space rock has been to the planet in decades.
Discovered last year, this giant rock is traveling at a clip of nearly 20-thousand miles per hour. Although it's in the neighborhood of 35 meters in diameter, we don't have to worry about it striking earth.
It is, however, closer than some of our weather satellites...a mere 17-thousand miles away.
The other side of the world may see the asteroid go by Friday afternoon. Scientists hope that attempting to bounce radar off the asteroid will allow them to take photos of the mass and use it for future human exploration.
