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180-Foot Asteroid Today! Giant Rock Plunges Toward Earth at Asteroid Speed ​​20,000 mph (33,649.77 km/h), July 21, NASA | Science News

180-Foot Asteroid Today! Giant Rock Plunges Toward Earth at Asteroid Speed ​​20,000 mph (33,649.77 km/h), July 21, NASA | Science News

180-Foot Asteroid Today! Yes, this massive asteroid is speeding toward a close encounter with Earth. Check out the asteroid’s speed and how close it will come. NASA reveals all. Did you know that Mars’ moons are captured asteroids?

A giant asteroid is headed for Earth today, NASA says. Check the asteroid’s speed. Know that Martian moons are asteroids. (Pixabay)

The asteroid has been given the name 2024 MG1 today. This giant space rock is on its way to Earth and will make a very close approach to Earth. The asteroid, the size of a passenger plane, will come as close as possible to 4,250,000 km from Earth on July 21, NASA reveals. According to NASA’s Small-Body Database Lookup, this asteroid belongs to the Apollo group and is classified as a near-Earth object (NEO). In fact, most NEOs are near-Earth asteroids (NEA). The asteroid’s speed is shocking. It is moving at 9.35 km per second. In terms of kilometers per hour, this asteroid is moving at a whopping 33,649 kmph.

Is there cause for concern? While NASA expects this asteroid to fly by and not come any closer. There is always the danger that planetary gravity can affect their orbit and even change it a little. This can alter their course in a dangerous way. Just look at what happened to these Martian moons.

Asteroid Facts: See also the table

Did you know that the two Martian moons, Pheibos and Deimos, are captured asteroids? Yes, that’s what NASA reveals. Both asteroids had come tumbling towards the planet and were then gradually captured by Mars’ gravity.

Facts about asteroids Description
Compound Most asteroids are rocky or metallic, similar to Earth’s crust, and some contain valuable metals. This includes gold!
Size range Asteroids range from small boulders to dwarf planets like Ceres (940 km in diameter).
Jobs Their orbits around the Sun can be highly elliptical and cross the orbit of the Earth.
Impact hazards Asteroid impacts have significantly affected Earth’s history and pose a potential threat, such as the one that wiped out all dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Reconnaissance Missions like NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and JAXA’s Hayabusa2 have studied asteroids up close. The DART mission actually deorbited a small asteroid and its moon by crashing a spacecraft into them.

Facts about NASA.