Asteroid 2020 RK2 Bigger Than Boeing-747 Jet May Collide With Earth's Orbit On October 7th

The NASA Centre for Near-Earth Objects has warned that an asteroid larger than a Boeing-747 jet may collide with the Earth's orbit on October 7th. The 2020 RK2 asteroid is currently on a trajectory to collide with the orbit of Earth and NASA is keeping a close watch on it. NASA expects not less than five asteroids will pass the Earth by Thursday. Another asteroid, 2020 RR2, measuring 26 metres in diameter, will cross Earth at a distance of 6.2 million kilometres on October 6th.

NASA claims that the asteroid, 2020 RK2 is unlikely to do any damage. The new asteroid to visit the Earth's neighbourhood is within two weeks after the last asteroid that crossed Earth on September 24. The asteroid zoomed past our planet about 13,000 miles above Earth's surface.

Astronomers say, NASA first spotted the asteroid 2020 RK2 last month. The asteroid will travel at a speed of 6.68 kilometres per second, which is equivalent to 14,942 miles per hour and is expected to range from 36 m to 81 m in diameter, which is almost 118-256 feet in width.

Based on the size, the asteroid could be larger than the wingspan of a Boeing-747 8 series aircraft, which is 68.5 m wide. NASA predicts that 2020 RK2 is expected to go past beyond our planet and even keen sky-watchers can't see the asteroid from Earth. The asteroid will zip past at 1.12 pm Eastern Standard Time or 6.12 pm British Summer Time on October 7. Once the space rock safely passes our planet, it will not visit our orbit again until August 2027.