There are a lot of space debris out there that has the potential to cause massive damage to Earth. In 2015, a giant asteroid a quarter of the size of Mount Everest came dangerously close to hitting our planet and would've been enough to take out a small country.
In 1908, a huge 50-meter wide asteroid collided with Earth and landed at Tunguska, Siberia. The impact flattened 2,000 kilometers of forest and sent shockwaves through Russia that measured five on the Richter scale, reported Express.
Massive Asteroid Classed As 'Potentially Hazardous' By Experts
Now, astronomers have detected a two-mile wide asteroid called 2000 ET70 that could one day collide with our planet. Experts have yet to determine how close it will come to a direct hit so they are monitoring the path that the space debris is treading.
The asteroid has caused quite the stir among astronomers all over the world and has labeled 2000 ET70 as "potentially hazardous asteroid." They say that an object of this size could end humanity as we know it as the impact will cause devastating earthquakes, tidal waves, and general apocalyptic scenarios.
This isn't the first time that the asteroid has threatened humanity's existence. In 2012, 2000 ET70 came within 18 lunar distances of Earth - quite close to something that enormous.
NASA's Capabilities In Asteroid Detection In Question Due To Past Errors
Scientists warn that the asteroid might return decades from now as it's currently orbiting back towards Earth's path and is expected to pass much closer than it did four years ago. However, NASA is squashing this growing fear and dismiss the possibility of a direct hit, said the Daily Star.
"NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small," said a spokesman for the space agency. "In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years."
Despite the reassurance, others are skeptical about the agency's capabilities of detecting meteors and asteroid as it has failed to do so in the past like the Chelyabinsk Meteor incident. The space debris was only spotted by astronomers only when it entered our planet's atmosphere because its radiant was close to the sun.
Furthermore, there is also a new space nation called Asgardia that's being developed, which will act as a defense system to protect Earth from threats that space debris poses but would take years to come into fruition. For now, all astronomers can do is track the path of 2000 ET70 and hope its trajectory isn't heading our way.
