Asteroids are leftover fragments from the early solar system, when our neighborhood was a collection of icy and stony small objects (before the planets were formed).
The agency's Planetary Defense Coordination Office works with other government agencies and a network of partner telescopes to keep an eye on potentially threatening objects, but this asteroid isn't one of them.
Coincidentally, the approach is taking place as asteroids once again are hitting the news in both fact and fiction.These asteroids have never been visited up close before.
The film follows a long line of fictional movie asteroids threatening the Earth and catalogs some satirical responses by White House officials (and scientists) to the impending problem.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more.Elizabeth Howell is a contributing writer for Space.com who is one of the few Canadian journalists to report regularly on space exploration.Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more.
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