Space rock to pass close to earth on July 24

NIRMAL YESODA

NASA, the United States space agency, is now apparently tracking an asteroid that could make its close approach with the earth on July 24, 2020. According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid that will make its close approach has been named 2020 ND.

Asteroid 2020 ND is almost 170-metre-long. According to NASA, this asteroid is currently screeching across space at a neck-breaking speed of 48,000 kilometers per hour. At the time of its close approach, this rogue space body will be almost 5,086,328 kilometers away from the earth.

Considering the distance at which it is traveling, the chances of a probable collision with the earth can be completely ruled out. However, several factors like the gravitational keyhole could affect the current trajectory of an asteroid, and if it happens, it could unleash chaos on the surface of the earth.

It should be noted that gravitational keyhole is an area in space where small objects like asteroids get attracted to the gravitational pull of larger space bodies like planets.

In the meantime, to combat a possible asteroid impact in the future, NASA is currently busy developing their planetary defence weapon aimed to deflect incoming asteroids. However, several top space experts believe that exploding the asteroid using nuclear weapons is the only effective way to protect the earth from future mass extinction events.