Today at about 7:45 AM EST, a small asteroid called 2010 AL30 flew by Earth at a distance of 80,000 miles--just one third of the way from here to the Moon, reports Discovery News.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed that 2010 AL30 is in fact an "Apollo" class near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and not man-made space junk. Earlier theories revolved around the latter since the object's orbital period is almost exactly one year. That made it a candidate for all the spent rocket boosters and spacecraft pieces floating in orbit.
Even if 2010 AL30 had struck the planet, it wouldn't have done any damage. Instead, it would have vaporized in the upper atmosphere, which is something that happens about once per year for objects of this size. The report said that if anything, planetary scientists now know we get a two-day warning for 10-meter-wide asteroids before they hit us.
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