Several space experts strongly believe that earth will face the devastation of its life when a doomsday asteroid hits the blue planet in its full fury. In order to avert potential threats from space in the future, NASA is tracking all near-earth objects that have even the minutest capability of threatening the existence of life on earth. However, an expert believes that earth will be hit by an asteroid that scientists may not even have discovered yet.
Is the Chelyabinsk incident a reminder?
It was in 2013 that a meteor measuring 20 meters in diameter exploded over Chelyabinsk, in Russia. The mid-air explosion was so powerful that it caused injury to more than 1,000 people. The Chelyabinsk meteor went unnoticed until the moment of the explosion. The incident is leading to fear that earth may face similar occurrences in the future.
Citing this possibility, data scientist Dave McKee has warned that an unknown asteroid that has not been discovered until now could surprise the planet with an unexpected hit.
"There's a significantly bigger chance of a significant asteroid that we haven't seen yet hitting us than any of the ones we have seen; for example, the Chelyabinsk meteor wasn't detected before it entered the earth's atmosphere," says Dave McKee, the Daily Star reports.
NASA's take on possible asteroid hits
However, NASA believes that the possibility of an asteroid hit in the near future is almost nil, but chances of a collision cannot be ruled out, considering the vastness of the universe. According to the space agency, there is a one in 300,000 chance every year that a space rock could hit earth and cause damage on a regional scale.
Space experts believe that asteroid Bennu is one such space body that has the capability to create chaos on earth in the next century. Considering the current trajectory of this rogue space body, it could come very close to earth in 2135, and a possible collision could wipe out millions in a second.
