NASA cuts calculations of asteroid large enough to wipe out a whole city striking Earth in half. The global astronomical community expects the odds of an asteroid to hit Earth in December 2032 to eventually fall to zero.
The risk that an asteroid capable of wiping out a city will strike Earth in eight years was reduced to 1.5% on Wednesday, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Only 24 hours prior to their latest announcement, NASA had recorded the highest-ever probability of such a big space rock hitting Earth at 3.1%.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) separate calculations plunged to 1.38%.
Space rock 2024 YR4 was detected in December by a telescope in Chile and is projected to fall to Earth on December 22, 2032.
The “impact risk corridor,” stretches across the eastern Pacific Ocean, northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Arabian Sea, and South Asia.
What do we know about the asteroid?
The asteroid is estimated to be around 40-90 meters (130-300 feet) wide, which would not cause a global catastrophe but is still capable of causing significant destruction to a city.
Richard Moissl, head of the ESA’s planetary defense office, told AFP that the percentage reduction of the asteroid hitting Earth had been expected as the “uncertainty region” where the asteroid could strike starts to “slip off” Earth.
The global astronomical community broadly expects the probability the asteroid will hit Earth on December 2032 to reduce down to zero.
There is still an 0.8 percent chance that the asteroid will hit the Moon, according to NASA.
