NASA gives all-clear: Earth safe from impact from giant asteroid for 100 years

Whew, now here’s some good cosmic news: NASA has given Earth the all-clear from destruction by a huge 340-meter-wide asteroid named Apophis — for the next century, anyway. The space agency has announced that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of Apophis smacking into Earth in 2068. Apophis was first detected in 2004, and scientists worried that it might come dangerously close to Earth in 2029 and again in 2036. NASA ruled out any chance of a strike for those two years, but a potential 2068 collision was for many years still a worry. But now, thankfully, Earthlings can breathe a sigh of relief. A 2068 impact is not possible, and NASA’s calculations “don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years,” said Davide Farnocchia of the space agency’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies in a statement on March 26. (AP) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.