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Holy Asteroid Flyby! It's Disturbingly Big, Incredibly Close - But We're Safe. For Now

Look up (with binoculars) for a glance of 2012 DA14, size of half a football field.

Holy Asteroid Flyby! It's Disturbingly Big, Incredibly Close - But We're Safe. For Now
Dina Spector

A "small" asteroid will make a record close approach to Earth this week, coming inside the earth-centric orbit of most man-made satellites.

NASA scientists at the near-Earth object program are monitoring asteroid 2012 DA14 closely and say there is absolutely no chance that the space rock will smash into our planet this time around.

There is a very slight chance that it will hit the Earth when it flies by again in 2110. It was discovered just one year ago.

2012-DA14, artist's rendition (wikipedia)

The asteroid, about half the size of a football field (150 feet in diameter), will however, only be 17,200 miles above Earth's surface when it whips past the eastern Indian Ocean, off Sumatra, around 2:24 p.m. East Coast time. It won't be visible with the naked eye, but could be seen with binoculars.

Most weather and communication satellites circle Earth at a distance of around 22,000 miles — so that's a pretty close shave.

"The flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 is the closest ever predicted Earth approach for an object this large," NASA said in a press release.

Asteroid 2012 DA 14 is hurtling toward Earth at 17,460 miles per hour and weighs almost 287,000,000 pounds.

Even in the improbable scenario that 2012 DA 14 did smack into Earth, the piece of space debris wouldn't destroy our planet. It would be similar to the Tunguska asteroid, which hit Siberia in 1908, though if it hit a city or an ocean it could create a fair bit of destruction.

NASA's Don Yeomans tells CNN that 2012 DA14 is likely made of stone, which would be less damaging than the asteroid made of metal that "collided with Earth 50,000 years ago, creating the mile wide Meteor Crater" in Arizona and obliterating everything for 50 miles around."

Here's more on the asteroid from NASA:

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Geopolitics

How Iran's Supreme Leader Is Short-Circuiting Diplomacy To Forge Alliances In Arab World

Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei recently sent out a special envoy to ease tensions with wealthy Arab neighbors. He's hoping to end the country's international isolation and dismal economic conditions that contributed to last year's mass protests.

Image of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei smiling, a portrait of himself behind him.

Ayatollah Khamenei on March 21st, 2023, delivering his annual speech in the Imam Reza's (pbuh) shrine, on the first day of 1402 Persian New Year.

Kayhan-London

-Analysis-

Needing to revive its diplomatic options and financial ties with the Middle East, Iran's embattled regime recently sent a senior security official and former defense minister — instead of members of the diplomatic corps — to talk business with regional powers that have been keeping Iran at arm's length.

After a surprise deal in mid-March to restore diplomatic ties with the Saudi monarchy, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, traveled to the United Arab Emirates, meeting with officials including the federation's head, Sheikh Muhammad bin Zaid Al Nahyan. His meetings are expected to ease the flow of regional money into Iran's economy, which is practically on pause after years of international sanctions. After Abu Dhabi, Shamkhani went to Baghdad.

Shamkhani was effectively acting as an envoy of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and supplanting the country's diplomatic apparatus. This wasn't the first time an Iranian foreign minister has been sidelined in crucial international affairs.

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