Asteroid could graze Earth the day before election after all: Neil DeGrasse Tyson
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NASA may have virtually dismissed the pre-Election Day asteroid slated to skim by Earth and possibly nick our atmosphere, but astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson said it’s not over till it’s over.
“Asteroid 2018VP1, a refrigerator-sized space-rock, is hurtling towards us at more than 40,000 km/hr,” he said Sunday on both Twitter and Instagram. “It may buzz-cut Earth on Nov 2, the day before the Presidential Election.”
It still has the same infinitesimal chance of hitting us – 0.41% – and even then it would only bump into and burn up in the atmosphere.
“It’s not big enough to cause harm,” Tyson clarified. “So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe.”
That’s a relief, but what about the millions of space rocks zipping by, any one of which could smack us upside the head?
“Do we have a plan if a larger asteroid was on a path to strike Earth?” asked one of Tyson’s 14.3 million followers.
“Nope,” Tyson replied. “Actually, we do have plans, but none of them are funded.”
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