You can take a deep breath now.
NASA “significantly lowered” the risk of Asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth, saying the chances are now almost zero.
Just last week, NASA said there was a 3.1% chance of 2024 YR4 hitting Earth somewhere along the equator in 2032.
“As observations of the asteroid continued to be submitted to the Minor Planet Center, experts…were able to calculate more precise models of the asteroid’s trajectory and now have found there is no significant potential for this asteroid to impact our planet for the next century,” NASA explained Monday.
The European Space Agency also updated its model, saying the chances have fallen to 0.001%.
That’s a big relief for anyone concerned about the space rock, which last week was declared the asteroid with the highest-ever recorded chance of possibly hitting Earth.
There is, however, a small chance the asteroid will hit the moon on the same day NASA thought it might hit Earth, Dec. 22, 2032. The space agency has currently put those odds at 1.7%.
NASA said it will continue to monitor 2024 YR4 for changes. It also said the asteroid “provided an invaluable opportunity for experts at NASA and its partner institutions to test planetary defense science and notification processes.”
The post Once riskiest asteroid likely to miss Earth—but could it hit the Moon? appeared first on Quartz.
