The barreling Asteroid 2016 NF23 will skim past the planet Earth shortly after 1 am UK time on Wednesday, August 29. The monstrous space rock is flying towards the planet at a breakneck speed of more than 20,000mph or nine kilometers per second. At this incredible speed, Asteroid NF23 moves faster than the long-retired Concord aircraft which reached cruise speeds of 1,354 mph (2,179 km/h). The US space agency said the asteroid measures 230ft (70m) to 524ft (160m) in diameter.
Asteroid NF23 is both larger than the 456ft tall (139m) Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt and the 364ft tall (110m) St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Because of its formidable size, the asteroid is listed on NASA’s list of so-called “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids”. Potentially hazardous asteroids are all space rocks larger than 459 feet (140 m) in size.Dr Detlef Koschny, head of the Near-Earth Objects team at the European Space Agency (ESA), said even smaller asteroids have a chance to cause great damage. READ MORE
