NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid Bennu, a 1,610-foot-wide cosmic object that could smash into our planet 159 years from now. According to NASA's OSIRIS-REx science team, the asteroid which was first discovered in 1999, could possibly drift into our planet's orbit and could hit Earth by September 24, 2182. Asteroid Bennu is believed to be taller than the Empire State Building and it could release 1,200 megatons of energy if it hits our planet, i.e., 24 times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built.
"During the flyby, there is an extremely small chance that Bennu will pass through a "gravitational keyhole" - a region of space that would set it on just the right path to impact Earth, late in the 22nd century," NASA said.
According to ABC News, Bennu passes near Earth every six years and had three close encounters with Earth in 1999, 2005 and 2011. Scientists believe that there is now a 1 in 2,700, or 0.037% chance, that Bennu could hit our planet by 2182.
While Bennu's chances of collision with Earth may have been termed as less likely by the US space agency for now, it has been categorized as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" that could come as near as 4.65 million miles from Earth.
"Although the chances of it hitting Earth are very low, Bennu remains one of the two most hazardous known asteroids in our solar system, along with another asteroid called 1950 DA," NASA explained.
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Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999 and classified as a "near-Earth object". It was formed in the first 10 million years of the solar system's history, which is over 4.5 billion years ago. It thus holds valuable clues to the origins and development of rocky planets such as Earth, and may even contain organic molecules similar to those necessary for life to evolve.
In 2020, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer) briefly touched the surface of this asteroid, collected samples and then propelled off the asteroid. It was the first mission of its kind for NASA.
