Free Republic

NASA and the European Space Agency are monitoring an asteroid that has a "non-zero" probability of colliding with Earth later this year. Based on the data collected by the two agencies, the asteroid is not in danger of causing an impact event due to its small size. The approaching asteroid has been identified as 2018 VP1. This asteroid is currently listed in NASA’s Sentry and the ESA’s Risk List, which are the agencies’ respective asteroid impact monitoring systems. As noted by the agencies, all asteroids listed in Sentry and the Risk List have chances of colliding with Earth in the...

This year could end with a bang. Scientists recently spotted an asteroid on a direct collision course to Earth — projected to hit a day before the presidential elections in November. The flying space object, known as 2018VP1, is expected on Nov. 2, according to the Center for Near Objects Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The asteroid is 6.5 feet in diameter, according to NASA data, and first identified at the Palomar Observatory in California two years ago. The space agency says there could be three potential impacts “based on 21 observations spanning 12.968 days, with the chance of...