Asteroid 2013 TX68 makes safe rendezvous and will return next year

As expected, space rock 2013 TX68 whizzed by earth safely on Monday night. The 100-feet-wide asteroid passes about 2.5 million miles from our planet, and posed no harm to earthlings. Does it mean earth is safe now? The yacht-sized space object is predicted to make a return next year, as per the latest NASA release.

This was not the first time when the TX68 asteroid made a close approach to earth. About two years ago, it zoomed past the planet at a distance of about 1.3 million miles, the US space agency said.

NASA also revealed that the rock will make a comeback in 2017, but that time, it will be no closer than 15,000 miles. There is less than one-in-250-million chance that TX68 will hit earth during its next year flyby, predicted the NASA release.

During the most recent rendezvous, asteroid 2013 TX68 made its closest approach to earth at around 7 pm, said spokesperson for the NASA.

The asteroid is not a small space object. It is 100-ft across, which means bigger than the 65-ft asteroid that broke up over Russia in 2013. That asteroid injured hundreds of people and damaged many buildings.

As TX68 is scheduled to make a comeback, what if its hits earth? There are fewer chances but NASA has clarified about its impact in its release. “If an asteroid the size of 2013 TX68 were to enter earth’s atmosphere, it would likely produce an air burst with about twice the energy of the Chelyabinsk event”, NASA said in a statement.

After 2017, the 2013 TX68 asteroid is believed to zoom past our planet in 2046 and 2097.