Asteroid the size of Eiffel tower to pass by the Earth orbit

A large asteroid passes the Earth at high speed on June 1. The boulder is estimated to be the size of the Eiffel Tower, but because of its distance from Earth it does not pose a threat to our planet. According to calculations by NASA, the asteroid will pass at 4: 25 p.m. UCT on Tuesday.

The space agency has detected 2021 KT1, as NASA calls the asteroid, through its detection system. NASA is currently monitoring about 26,000 asteroids that are ‘near’ to Earth.

NASA estimates that 2021 KT1 has a diameter of between 150 and 330 meters. The rock passes at a speed of around 64,000 kilometers per hour. That’s about 20 times the speed at which a bullet is shot out of a gun.

Because the rock remains more than 7 million kilometers away from Earth, NASA does not see the asteroid as a danger. Asteroids are only labeled as a potentially hazardous object when they are within 7 million kilometers of our planet and have a diameter of at least 150 meters.