Asteroid thought to be lost in space might pose threat to Earth in 2024, NASA estimates show

A ‘lost asteroid’ has a slight possibility of impacting Earth in 2024, NASA has warned. The asteroid named 2007 FT3 is floating through space and there is a tiny chance that it mightstrike Earthnext year.

This is not the first time that NASA has found an asteroid approaching Earth, and this will also not be the last. There are currently over 32,000 known near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and more than 120 known short-period near-Earth comets (NECs). Each of these space elements has the ability to cause some form of destruction to Earth if not averted successfully.

Most of these known asteroids are tracked by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The space agency’s branch hasestimated that the asteroid could potentially strike the planet as soon as October 2024.

2007 FT3: ‘Lost asteroid’ might find its way to Earth

In 2007, scientists spotted an object floating through space, which they named 2007 FT3. The object was revealed tobe an asteroid but soon lost its flight path and scientists lost track of it. The asteroid had a short observation arc of only 1.2 days, after which it was not recovered despitetargeted observations made by the scientists. The scary part is thatit has not been seen since 2007.

NASA scientists estimatethat thisasteroid has probably now found its way back to Earth. They further say that there is a possibility that 2007 FT3 will hit Earth next year. But how high is the possibility? Well, NASA has quantified it.

NASA suggests that 2007 FT3 has a probability of 0.0000087 per cent or 1 in 11.5 million chance of striking Earth in October 2024. There is another possibility of it striking Earth in March 2024 with the probability standing at 0.0000096 per cent, or 1 in 10 million. In both cases, the asteroid has the potential to release the energy equivalent to the detonation of 2.6 billion tons of TNT.

How dangerous it could be?

As per NASA’s estimates, in both cases, the amount of energy released from the collision of an asteroid and Earth can cause a considerable amount of regional destruction. However, the destruction would be weak enough to cause any global damage.

The space agency says that it will most probably strike the Earth on 5 Oct 2024.

There are other asteroids as well that are approaching Earth that can potentially cause such devastation.

One object, known as 29075 (1950 DA), is the second riskiest rock on NASA's list. Discovered in 1950, scientists lost track of it for 50 years before finding its path once again. It has a 0.0029 per cent, or 1 in 34,500 chance of hitting Earth on March 16, 2880, a time way, way into the future.

(With inputs from agencies)