NASA Tracking Giant Asteroid Approaching Earth's Orbit

NASA is tracking a massive asteroid that is approaching Earth. The asteroid, named 2021 NY1, has a diameter between 300-900 feet, making it more than three times larger than the Statue of Liberty.

An asteroid that size isn't a planet killer but could cause serious damage if it struck the Earth. Objects larger than 100 feet crash into Earth every few hundred years. According to the New York Times, the last time an asteroid larger than 100 feet in diameter struck with Earth was in 1908. That asteroid crashed into Siberia, causing an explosion that released four megatons of energy and toppled millions of trees over 825 square miles.

Luckily, 2021 NY1 isn't on a collision course with Earth and will pass within 930,487 miles of the planet later this month.

NASA is currently tracking 24 asteroids around Earth's orbit. Only one of them is expected to pass between the Earth and the Moon, which is 238,855 miles from the Earth. NASA predicts that 2015 TQ21 will pass within 215,000 miles of Earth in mid-October.