NASA releases images of a stadium-sized asteroid

Washington, Feb 28 (Prensa Latina) NASA released the first detailed images of asteroid 2008 OS7, which has the size of a stadium and has managed to come within 2.9 million kilometers from Earth, it was reported.

February 28, 2024
00:15

The large rock passed close to our planet at about seven and a half times the distance between the Earth and the Moon on February 2, when the Deep Space Network radar of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took the high-definition photos.

The space agency of the United States pointed out that this distance is the closest it will be to Earth in at least 200 years.

According to the report, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) used the powerful 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar dish at the Deep Space Network facility near Barstow, California, to determine the size, rotation, shape and surface of this near-Earth object (NEO) better.

Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth’s orbit and its size, 2008 OS7 is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid; however, there was no risk of it impacting our planet, NASA noted.

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