NASA says only one asteroid, Penn, is likely to hit Earth by 2300

NASA announced on Wednesday (August 11) that the asteroid Pennu will be closest to Earth in 2135, about half the distance from our planet to the Moon. The US space agency used the opportunity to reveal new data, so the chances of a further impact by 2300 are slim.

According to NASA, the 500-meter-diameter pen, discovered in 1999, is one of only two known asteroids in our solar system. Osiris-Rex spent two years in orbit around Penn. She left last May to bring back samples collected during a few seconds of contact with the Earth, which will arrive on Earth in 2023. The path was able to study this asteroid very closely and dramatically improve its predictions about the future. By 2300, scientists concluded that the chance of a collision with Earth was only 0.057%.

Why are we not 100% sure? On September 2135, Pennu will pass very close to Earth. This will give him the opportunity to go through a so-called “Gravity key hole” : Due to the gravitational influence of our planet, an area that slightly changes the path of the asteroid, thus putting it in the course of future collisions.