NASA has calculated the exact date when the Bennu asteroid, also called the “doomsday asteroid”, could hit the Earth. This could happen on September 24, 2182.

The width of this space object is 490 meters. It belongs to the category of “city killers” – in case of collision with our planet, it can destroy an entire metropolis.

If Bennu hits, it will hit at about 11 kilometers per second. It will also release 1,400 megatons of energy; This is equivalent to the explosion of 24 nuclear bombs. Fortunately, the probability of such a scenario occurring is zero before 2100 and very low thereafter, approximately 1 in 2,700.

Scientists also note that a similar diamond-shaped object is not new to the outskirts of the Earth and they have already studied it a little. They know that the long orbit around the Sun brings it closer to us about every six years, but until now it has always been around 5 million kilometers.

However, Bennu’s orbit changes frequently, and this is worrying. That’s why NASA is very interested in this asteroid and has been monitoring it for a long time. The agency launched the OSIRIS-REx automatic interplanetary station in 2016. He should return with soil samples on September 24 anyway. Their work will allow scientists to better understand our space neighbor and more accurately predict its behavior. Source