Asteroid to miss hitting Earth, 2020 continues apace

An asteroid reported to be heading near Earth’s orbit will safely pass by and not end life as we know it on Saturday, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has monitored the asteroid, dubbed 2002 NN4, as part of its surveillance of near-earth object close approach data. On Friday, NASA said the asteroid will not destroy the planet this weekend.

“Asteroid 2002 NN4 will safely pass by Earth on June 6 at a distance of approximately 3.2 million miles (5.1 million kilometers), about 13 times further away from the Earth than the Moon is,” NASA said on its website on Friday. “There is no danger the asteroid will hit the Earth.”

Among the existential threats more closely facing Americans in 2020 are the coronavirus pandemic and economic devastation wrought by social distancing guidelines. New York, previously labeled a hot zone of coronavirus, reported just 35 coronavirus deaths on Friday, which was the lowest since the coronavirus crisis began, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The economy has also shown signs of improvement, with the unemployment rate falling to a better-than-expected 13.3% in May, the Labor Department said on Friday.

 

 

Tomorrow, asteroid 2002 NN4 will SAFELY pass by Earth at a distance of approximately 3.2 million miles (5.1 million km), about 13 times farther away from the Earth than the Moon is.

There is no danger it will hit Earth. Visit these FAQs for more: https://t.co/ZpllmEK77X pic.twitter.com/r3R0GrGaRb

— NASA (@NASA) June 5, 2020