newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The Earth isn’t in any danger of being hit by an asteroid, but they’ve been getting closer.

According to Nasa.gov, asteroid 2011 MD passed only 7,600 miles above the Earth's surface on Monday June 27 at about 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Tucker Patch reports NASA’s Near Earth Object Program was designed to identify and track potentially troublesome asteroids and comets. They discovered 2011 MD late last week. The program is also responsible for alerting the public if any potentially hazardous near earth objects are discovered. The asteroid was closest to Earth in the southern hemisphere over the southern Atlantic Ocean.

The asteroid is said to be between 8 and 18 meters in diameter, or about as big as a large house. It would be expected to come this close to Earth only about every 6 years on average.

According to geek.com, in February, asteroid 2011 CQ1 missed hitting the Earth by 3,405 miles. Asteroid 2011 MD came closer to the Earth than the Moon, within the same range as some communications and television satellites.

Time reported that even if the asteroid had hit the Earth, it would probably have burned up and disintegrated, with debris falling into the ocean or land — but not enough to cause any serious damage.

That being said, the Washington Post points out that last year a bill was introduced into Congress to establish a commission to study the danger of an asteroid collision with Earth and how prepared we would be to face the danger. The bill never became a law.