New Delhi

An asteroid moving five times as fast as a hypersonic missile is set to fly by extremely close to the Earth on Wednesday, according to NASA's asteroid tracker. Reportedly, two asteroids are set to pass the Earth on the day. The two asteroids have been named 2022 SA1 and 2022 SR2, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

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NASA says that asteroid 2022 SR2, between 6.9 metres and 15 metres in diameter, is flying at a speed of around 21.78 kilometres per second, or 78,408 kilometres per hour. This is roughly equal to nearly 63.5 times the speed of sound.

One of the most prominent hypersonic missiles, Russia's Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, travels at a speed of 4.116 kilometres per second. This means that asteroid 2022 SR2 is moving five times faster than the fastest missile on Earth.

The insanely fast moving asteroid will pass by the Earth at a distance of approximately 445,800 kilometres, which is extremely close. However, NASA says there is no danger of it colliding with the Earth. 

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Meanwhile, the 2022 SA1 has an estimated diameter of between 24 metres and 55 metres. It is moving at around 14.10 kilometres per second, about 40 times the speed of sound. 

(With inputs from agencies)