Asteroid Passes by Earth at Closer Distance Than the One Separating Us From the Moon
Our world is surely special for us all. All of our memories, achievements, failures, and so on are tied to the third planet from the Sun. We call it the Earth, but who knows, maybe extraterrestrial civilizations call it in some other way if they truly are out there, somewhere.
As Space.com reveals, the asteroid known as 2021 TG14 passed by our precious planet closer than the orbit of the Moon on October 17. The space rock was about the size of a bus.
No reasons to worry
Luckily enough, there’s no reason to worry. The asteroid safely passed by Earth, and there’s no sign that it will come back too soon. The minimum distance between our planet and the asteroid is about 155,000 miles, which clearly means closer than the Moon’s orbit.
The Moon orbits around the Earth at a distance of roughly 238,800 miles. If that distance sounds a lot to you, you are absolutely right! But even so, by comparison with other distances, going to the Moon means practically nothing.
If you want to go to Mars, for instance, you’ll need to travel at least the staggering distance of 33.9 million miles.
But why would you go to Mars? It’s simple: there are signs that the Red Planet was once habitable. Mars once had oceans and rivers, and water is a major component in the emergence and sustaining of life as we know it. Life could also exist in primitive forms, such as microbes and other microscopic organisms.
Therefore, it’s no use getting intimidated by a distance shorter than the one that separates our planet from the Moon. But of course, even for the fastest spacecraft astronomers have, it takes a while to travel even the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Tommy’s hobby has always been playing video games. He enjoys competing in video games tournaments and writing about his experience. It’s not a big surprise that he mostly covers the latest trends from the gaming industry.
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