(Daily Mail) – A massive asteroid believed to measure 280ftin diameter is set to fly past Earth this afternoon at a dizzying speed of 30,422 miles per hour. The asteroid, dubbed 2013 MD8, is expected to skim past Earth at just over 3 million miles away, or about 13 times the distance between Earth and the moon, at 12:55 pm (ET) on Tuesday. The huge space rock is expected to make a ‘close approach’ to Earth, but its trajectory should see it soar safely by.
NASA considers an asteroid to be ‘hazardous’ if they come within 4,600,000 miles of our planet. Asteroid MD8 falls under the category of a ‘near-earth object’ (NEO), which NASA describes as all asteroids and comets that orbit within 30 million miles of Earth. NASA tracks this and other near-Earth objects (NEOs) to keep track of any potential incoming threats. However, there is little to be worried about, even with MD8 being a near-earth-object. READ MORE
