The massive space rock, 2006 HV5, which is around 1,000 feet broad, will fly by our planet at a speed of about 39,000 miles per hour.

What is an Asteroid anyways?


Asteroids orbit the Sun and are usually rocky or metallic objects. They can vary in size from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers in diameter. The asteroid belt is a region between Mars and Jupiter where the majority of asteroids in our solar system are located. It is estimated that there are over a million asteroids in the asteroid belt, ranging in size from small particles to dwarf planets.


Today (April 27), an asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower that is classified as "potentially hazardous" will fly past Earth. NASA assures us that the massive space rock will pass safely by our planet.

According to the Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the asteroid, 2006 HV5, came within 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometers) of Earth at approximately 12:00 a.m. EDT. The moon is more than six times closer to our planet than that.

Approximately 1,007 feet (307 meters) wide, plus or minus 249 feet (76 meters) is the estimated width of 2006 HV5. The height of the Eiffel Tower is 1,082 feet (330 m). Any asteroid larger than 460 feet (140 m) in diameter that approaches Earth within 4.65 million miles (7.48 million km), or nearly 20 times the normal distance between Earth and the moon, is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). There are over 2,300 PHAs that are known, and although most of them will never even approach close to Earth, they are large enough to seriously harm our planet if they do. The PHA 2006 HV5 is not the only one that has recently passed Earth in close proximity. 

A PHA that was between 393 and 853 feet (120 to 260 meters) broad flew by Earth on April 6 at a distance of 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers). And on February 15, a massive PHA that was between 1,900 and 4,265 feet (580 and 1,300 meters) in height flew by Earth at a distance of roughly 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers).

Two other PHAs, 2006 BE55, and 2012 DK31, each about 450 feet (137 meters) large, safely passed Earth on February 27 and 28, together with a third, smaller asteroid.

Don't worry now NASA has got our backs now


A NASA space mission called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) tested a planetary defense strategy against NEOs. Its purpose was to measure the amount an asteroid is deflected by a spacecraft impact by the transfer of momentum when the spacecraft strikes the asteroid head-on.