Asteroid Three Times the Size of a Blue Whale to Make a Close Approach Past Earth on June 6: NASA

Asteroid 2021 GT2 has been projected to safely fly by Earth's orbit at a speed of 16,000 miles per hour (26,000 kilometers per hour) on Monday, June 6, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The space rock has an estimated size ranging between 121 and 272 feet wide, comparable to triple the size of a blue whale.

The celestial object has not been considered as a potential threat to our planet.

This is due to its fly by distance of over 2 million miles, which is equivalent to around 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Asteroid Detection

(Photo : LOREN ELLIOTT/AFP via Getty Images)

Asteroid 2021 GT2 was first discovered on April 4, 2021 and last observed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA on Sunday, June 5.

The space object is classified as an Aten-class asteroid, which entail its orbits the Sun closer than Earth does.

This class of asteroids, still considered to be Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), has only an orbital period or revolution around the Sun of less than a year, approximately every 342 days.

After the asteroid fly by, the next close approach of 2021 GT2 to Earth will transpire on January 26, 2034 at a distance of 9 million miles (14.5 million kilometers), which is significantly farther than the upcoming approach, according to Live Science.

Also Read: Gigantic Asteroid Will Pass By Earth in 7 Years, Do We Have Defense Against Such Threats?

Asteroid Belt

Sometimes referred to as a "minor planet," asteroids are remnants of the past during the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

The prevailing and current asteroid count to date is 1,113,527, according to the Solar System Exploration webpage of NASA.

2021 GT2 is only one of the many so-called "ancient space rubble" orbiting the Sun, situated between Mars and Jupiter.

This region of space is called the asteroid belt, which contains a multitude of celestial rocks that comes in varying sizes and shapes.

NASA reportedly estimate the total mass of the asteroid belt is still lesser than those of the Moon, which is far too small to weight in as an official planet.

Planetary Defense Exercise

NASA, along with other space agencies and space enthusiasts, monitors thousands of space objects.

However, the space rock of concern are those with size larger than a mere blue whale, a school bus, or the Empire State Building in New York City.

In June 2004, astronomers detected a massive asteroid called 99942 Apophis.

Concerns both in public and the media emerged in December of the same year, since initial estimates of chances Apophis hitting Earth had an asteroid impact probability of up to 2.7% in 2029.

While estimates change in value as time progresses, the latest calculation of Apophis' approach to Earth is will be on April, 13, 2029.

However, the potentially planet-killing ancient space rubble with the size of more than 1,000 feet in diameter will only be a close encounter and will not likely strike our planet.

The threat posed by Apophis is one of the several reasons why planetary defense measures are underway, including NASA's development of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which aims to deflect against NEAs and other Near Earth Objects (NEOs), like asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

On May 31, NASA announced the conduction of a planetary defense exercise that uses Apophis as an example of a mock encounter based on real-world asteroid strike scenario.

More than 100 participants, including NASA scientists, from 18 countries joined the event.

The exercise was a product of the coordination between NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) and the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN).

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