A refrigerator-sized asteroid has come within 3000 km of Earth and scientists did not even notice it. Asteroid 2021 UA1 is the third closest asteroid to pass close to our Earth. It will pass over Antarctica on Sunday at a higher altitude than the International Space Station. However, its altitude will be less than that of communication satellites that orbit the Earth. The diameter of this asteroid is just two meters, which means that if it came close to our planet, it would burn up in our atmosphere. This asteroid was so surprising because it was behind the Sun and was coming towards Earth during the day. This is the reason why it could not be detected before coming closest. Astronomer Tony Dunn gave this information.
Two asteroids passed close to EarthOnly two asteroids have come very close in Earth’s history. An asteroid 2020 QG passed just 1,830 miles over the southern Indian Ocean. It was so small that it did not threaten the Earth. The second asteroid was 2020 VT4, which passed a few hundred miles from Earth in November last year. Although these asteroids are too small to harm the Earth. Scientists are preparing to deal with the threat of a big asteroid.
Scientists ready to deal with asteroidsChinese researchers are considering sending more than 20 rockets that could hit a giant asteroid. The American space agency NASA is also constantly trying to understand the asteroid. For this, there are lineups from ‘Psyche Mission’ to ‘Dart Mission’. Under NASA’s Dart mission, the spacecraft will rapidly collide with and impact an asteroid. The name of this mission of NASA is DART i.e. Double Asteroid Redirection Test which includes SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. It will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:20 pm local time on November 23.