Home Science Newly discovered asteroid zooms within 2,500 miles of Earth

Newly discovered asteroid zooms within 2,500 miles of Earth

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Newly discovered asteroid zooms within 2,500 miles of Earth

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A newly discovered space rock about 6.5 feet wide (2 meters) zipped past Earth today at a distance five times closer than GPS satellites orbit.

The small asteroid, designated C9FMVU2, was first spotted on Thursday morning (Sept. 7), only a few hours before it made its closest approach to Earth. At 10:25 a.m EDT (1425 GMT), the space rock passed the planet at a distance of only 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) — about 1% of the Earth-moon distance. For comparison, satellites of the U.S. navigational and positioning constellation GPS orbit at an altitude of 12,550 miles (20,200 km). 



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