NASA to send spacecraft to collide into Asteroid headed towards earth

An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is heading for Earth in December, according to NASA.

Named ‘Nereus 4660’ is 330 metres long and is classified as a ‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroid’ (PHA)

NASA’s asteroid tracker predicts it will come close to Earth on December 11.

Impact from the asteroid could be devastating, but thankfully, it does not pose a threat to the planet because it will pass at a distance of approximately 3.9 million kilometers and at a speed of 6.578 km/s.

Most space missions don’t intend to crash their spacecraft. But that’s just what NASA has in mind for its upcoming Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission

The asteroid was first discovered by scientists in 1982, and because of its close orbit to Earth it is potentially accessible by spacecraft.