NASA: Asteroid could hit Earth in the future

According to NASA, an asteroid that passes by every six years could collide with Earth years from now. The asteroid, dubbed Bennu, was first discovered by scientists in 1999, when the flying space rock had its first documented close call with Earth.

Since its discovery, Bennu has had three other close calls with Earth, in 1999, 2005 and 2011, according to a study.

Now scientists predict Bennu could get caught in the planet’s orbit and hit Earth by September 2182. The chances of Bennu hitting Earth by 2182 are 1 in 2,700, or 0.037%, according to scientists.

If a collision does occur, scientists say Bennu would hit Earth and release 1,200 megatons of energy. For comparison, 1,200 megatons is 24 times the energy of most nuclear weapons.

According to scientific research released in 2019, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs impacted Earth with the “equivalent power of 10 billion atomic bombs of the size used in World War II.” 

In a 2020 mission, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer, OSIRIS-REx, touched the surface of Bennu to collect a surface sample. According to NASA, after years of anticipation and space exploration, OSIRIS-REx is expected to land in Utah with the sample on the weekend of Sept. 24.