Samples from an Empire State Building-sized space rock heading for Earth will finally return after a seven-year mission in deep space
On 24 September 2182, there is a chance that an asteroid named Bennu will hit Earth with the force of 22 atom bombs.
The Empire State Building-sized space rock swings close to our planet every six years but will have its closest shave 159 years from now.
Although the odds of a catastrophic strike are 1 in 2,700, Nasa was concerned enough to launch a spacecraft to Bennu seven years ago to collect samples, in case an Armageddon-style deflection mission is required.
Asteroid samples from the OSIRIS-REx mission will finally reach Earth next week, touching down in the Utah desert on September 24 – the same date as the future apocalypse Nasa is seeking to avert.