Tomorrow we recognize Asteroid Day around the world, but today we witnessed an asteroid coming so close to the Earth that it was within the Moon’s orbit.
Asteroid 2024 MK flew past the Earth earlier today with no incident, but it was pretty close. Its closest approach was about 75 percent of the distance between Earth and the Moon. The asteroid, about the size of a skyscraper, would have made quite a mess had it hit us.
What is somewhat disturbing is that we have set up systems and processes to detect Near Earth Objects (NEO) to better prepare for potential collisions, yet this particular asteroid was first detected this month. Had it been on a collision course, we would have had less than two weeks to prepare.
NASA and others continue with efforts to step up NEO detection. One planned improvement is the NEO Surveyor, which will be the first space telescope specifically designed to locate potentially hazardous NEOs. The NEO Surveyor is scheduled to launch in June 2028.
Better detection, as well as defenses, can help to ensure we have many more Asteroid Days far into the future.
Our Awesome Universe 