Asteroid the Size of a Super-Tall Building Approaches Earth to 2.3 Million km [Reading Science]

NASA in the US Reports Near-Earth Approach of Asteroid '2022 RM4'
Slightly Smaller Than Burj Khalifa, the Tallest Building on Earth
Ultra-Fast Speed of 8,450 km/h, 68 Times the Speed of Sound
Expected to Approach Earth Within 2.3 Million km on the 1st of Next Month
"No Collision Risk but Under Close Observation"

Asteroid Lutetia. Stock photo. Not directly related to the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A newly discovered asteroid the size of a super-tall skyscraper is passing by Earth at an incredible speed on Halloween Day. Scientists are closely monitoring it, although they believe there is no risk of collision.

According to NASA on the 31st, the newly named asteroid '2022 RM4' is expected to approach Earth up to 2.3 million km on the 1st of next month. This distance is only about six times the distance from Earth to the Moon (approximately 380,000 km), making it very close in space terms. The asteroid is estimated to be 330 to 740 meters in diameter, slightly smaller than the Burj Khalifa building (about 828 meters), the tallest building on Earth. Its speed is an astonishing 84,500 km/h, which is about 68 times the speed of sound. NASA currently considers that this asteroid poses no collision threat to Earth.

NASA typically classifies space objects detected within 193 million km from Earth as 'near-Earth objects' and begins monitoring them. If they approach within 7.5 million km, they are considered potential threats. For all space objects classified as near-Earth objects, NASA calculates their trajectories to determine if there is any risk of collision with Earth. Since 2017, NASA has established four telescope networks called the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which can monitor the entire night sky 24/7, tracking the orbits of about 28,000 asteroids. Since its operation, ATLAS has discovered over 700 asteroids and 66 comets that have come close to Earth. There have been two confirmed actual asteroid impacts on Earth in 2018 and 2019, but due to their small size, most burned up in the atmosphere, causing no ground damage.

NASA reports that there are no large asteroids predicted to collide with Earth in the next 100 years. This means that, unlike the movie 'Don't Look Up,' a catastrophic asteroid impact capable of destroying civilization is not expected anytime soon. However, smaller asteroid impacts capable of destroying a small city are difficult to detect and forecast. In March last year, a meteor the size of a bowling ball exploded over Vermont, USA, generating a shockwave equivalent to 200 kg of TNT. In 2013, an asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, producing a shockwave 26 to 33 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb, destroying the city and injuring about 1,500 people.

NASA refers to asteroids as 'city killers' or 'civilization killers' and is making special efforts to prevent worst-case scenarios. A representative example is the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission on September 26, which collided a spacecraft near Jupiter with an asteroid to observe whether its trajectory could be altered. This was NASA's first Earth defense experiment and is considered successful, having shortened the orbital period of the target asteroid Dimorphos by about 32 minutes.

Meanwhile, China plans to conduct a similar asteroid trajectory alteration experiment around 2024-2025. The plan involves using the Changzheng 5 (Long March 5) rocket to collide with the asteroid Bennu, which is predicted to approach Earth up to about 7.4 million km between 2175 and 2199, to change its course and eliminate the threat.