Technology

NASA expert explains the discovery of the massive asteroid that could hit Earth

Not the sort of big rock people ask for on Valentine's Day!

NASA has recently discovered a new asteroid, dubbed "asteroid 2023 DW". And it's 49.29m in diameter and could hit Earth on Valentine's Day 2046. What's the odds of that coming true?

'1 in 560 of a chance'... Which sounds high.

We've watched enough sci-fi movies to know that asteroids can be a big deal for the fate of the world - so should we be worried about this one?

We asked an expert, NASA Navigation Engineer Davide Farnocchia, who shares with Jay-Jay & Flynny that we shouldn't be too worried.

While he admits you can't "rule it out", the likelihood of hitting us is more like 0.02%, or a 99.8% probability that it won't - if you're a half-glass-full sort of person.

But if it were to hit us, Davide says there is 23 years to help "move" the object off track with the technology we have.

And what about the aliens? You'll just have to listen to the full chat with NASA's Davide Farnocchia to find out what he thinks!

Track the full journey of this asteroid on NASA's website here.

Listen to more Jay-Jay & Flynny with their Catch Up podcasts here

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