Football field sized asteroid will pass close to Earth
NASA predict an asteroid will pass closer to Earth Friday than any object of its size has ever before.
RUSTON -- A professor of physics at Louisiana Tech has echoed NASA in predicting an asteroid will pass closer to Earth Friday than any object of comparable size has ever done before. Dr. Lee Sawyer said the big rock is about 150 feet in diameter, about half the length of a football field. "It was first discovered almost a year ago."
Sawyer said the asteroid will pass within 17,200 miles of the Earth's surface which is close enough to be within the orbit of communications satellites. He said it's going to pass during daylight hours in the United States so we won't be able to see it. "There is no reason to be concerned about it hitting us."
"The asteroid will pass so close to the Earth it will actually change its orbit significantly. If it were to hit earth the impact would be enough to flatten a large area, but wouldn't be globally catastrophic."
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