It may not affect you or your kids, but it will affect your kids’ kids, as NASA has predicted that a massive asteroid could smash into Earth in the year 2182.
The impact of the asteroid Bennu, classified as a Near-Earth Object, could devastate an area on the planet the size of Texas.
The asteroid was first spotted by astronomers in 1999 and has been on the space agency’s radar ever since, with scientists working to track its trajectory.
There have since been three close encounters with Bennu, including when it buzzed by Earth in 1999, 2005, and 2011.
But now, astronomers shared in a recent research paper that Bennu will fly by Earth on Sept. 25, 2135, and during its close encounter, there is a chance it will pass through a “gravitational keyhole” that would send it on a collision course with the planet 159 years from now.
The paper, written by the OSIRIS-REx science team, gives Bennu a 1 in 2,700 chance of impacting the Earth on Sept. 24, 2182.
According to Earth.com, if the asteroid were to impact the planet, it would unleash the energy of roughly 22 atomic bombs wherever it landed.
The blast would still only be a fraction of the impact left by the asteroid that is believed to have killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. That rock was believed to be about six miles wide.
Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluyesi spoke with ABC News about the asteroid, sharing that scientists will soon have samples of the space rock thanks to the OSIRIS-REx team landing a craft on Bennu and collecting 2 pounds of rock and dirt samples in 2020.
The samples are expected to land on Earth this Sunday in Utah, completing a nearly 7-year mission.
“This is pure untainted material revealing early solar system secrets. A longshot discovery would be finding biological molecules or even precursor molecules for life,” Oluyesi said.