spacetoday.net: Small asteroid to fly past the Earth

Small asteroid to fly past the Earth

Posted: Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 6:28 AM ET (1128 GMT)
2012 DA14 flyby illustration (NASA)

A small asteroid will pass closer to the Earth Friday than many satellites, but does not pose an impact threat to the Earth. Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass about 27,600 kilometers above the Earth's surface on Friday at 2:25 pm EST (1925 GMT). That brings it closer to the Earth than satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), but the asteroid's trajectory will not take it through the GEO ring and will not come within 1,000 kilometers of any satellite. The asteroid also poses no impact risk to the Earth. Scientists do plan to use the flyby to closely study an asteroid and refine their techniques for tracking near Earth objects.