![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/nasa-gives-key-date-asteroid-with-power-of-24-atom-bombs-could-hit-earth/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/0_Space-Asteroid-Grab-23262586475819.jpg&description=NASA experts have shed light on the chances of the huge asteroid smashing into earth - even giving a date when the three-mile wide space rock could land on our planet This illustration provided by NASA depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu NASA has said there is a small chance an asteroid with the power of 24 atomic bombs could hit earth. Experts believe that September 24, 2182 marks the day an asteroid named Bennu could hit the planet with the force of 24 atom bombs. The space rock - which is the same size as the Empire State building - swings close to our planet every six years. However the agency says there is a 1 in 2,700 chance it could strike earth, with catastrophic results. It comes as NASA scientists have revealed they are in the 'final stretch' of their mission to avert an asteroid striking the Earth. Nasa launched a spacecraft to Bennu seven years ago to collect samples. They hope the data could help prepare them should an Armageddon-style deflection mission be required. Asteroid samples from the OSIRIS-REx mission will reach Earth this week, touching down in the Utah desert on Sept 24. Rich Burns, project manager for OSIRIS-REx at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'We are now in the final leg of this seven-year journey, and it feels very much like the last few miles of a marathon, with a confluence of emotions like pride and joy coexisting with a determined focus to complete the race well." For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US OSIRIS-REx Sheds Light on Hazardous Asteroid Bennu ( NASA Goddard/Youtube) Bennu is about a third of a mile wide, so it is not big enough to cause a planet-wide extinction. The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs was six miles wide. However, Nasa estimates that it could cause a six-mile wide crater and wreak devastation over a 600-mile radius. As well as Bennu, NASA are actively tracking six other asteroids w){kind=link}
NASA experts have shed light on the chances of the huge asteroid smashing into earth – even giving a date when the three-mile wide space rock could land on our planet
NASA has said there is a small chance an asteroid with the power of 24 atomic bombs could hit earth.
Experts believe that September 24, 2182 marks the day an asteroid named Bennu could hit the planet with the force of 24 atom bombs. The space rock – which is the same size as the Empire State building – swings close to our planet every six years. However the agency says there is a 1 in 2,700 chance it could strike earth, with catastrophic results.
It comes as NASA scientists have revealed they are in the “final stretch” of their mission to avert an asteroid striking the Earth. Nasa launched a spacecraft to Bennu seven years ago to collect samples. They hope the data could help prepare them should an Armageddon-style deflection mission be required.
Asteroid samples from the OSIRIS-REx mission will reach Earth this week, touching down in the Utah desert on Sept 24. Rich Burns, project manager for OSIRIS-REx at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told the Sunday Telegraph: “We are now in the final leg of this seven-year journey, and it feels very much like the last few miles of a marathon, with a confluence of emotions like pride and joy coexisting with a determined focus to complete the race well.”