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Earth’s close shave with asteroid

May 30 2012 at 10:11am
By SAPA

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iol scitech may 30 asteroid

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

File photo: An artist's impression of what an asteroid will look like as it flies by close to Earth.

Pasedena, California - A newly discovered small asteroid has harmlessly zipped close to Earth - just as scientists expected.

The 16-foot (4.88-meter)-long space rock, discovered Monday, passed by early Tuesday at a distance of 8,950 miles (14,403 kilometres) from the Earth's surface.

Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks such flybys, said the asteroid - dubbed 2012 KT42 - was the sixth closest asteroid approach.

It was the second asteroid encounter this week. On Monday, another asteroid, measuring 69 feet (21 meters) across, flew by at a distance of 32,000 miles (51,497 kilometres). - Sapa-AP

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