Saturday, March 31, 2012

April Fools' Day Asteroid to Buzz Earth Sunday: No Joke!

by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor

Date: 31 March 2012 Time: 10:46 AM ET

This graphic depicts the orbit of asteroid 2012 EG5 (in blue) during its April Fool's Day flyby of Earth on April 1, 2012.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL

An asteroid the size of a passenger jet will zoom close by Earth on Sunday (April 1) just in time for April Fools' Day, but it has no chance of hitting the Earth, NASA says.
The asteroid 2012 EG5 will be closer than the moon when it passes Earth at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT). The space rock is about 150 feet wide (46 meters), according to a NASA update.

MORE: http://www.space.com/15121-april-fools-day-asteroid-earth-flyby.html

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