Earth's Satellites At Risk If Asteroid Smashes Into Moon

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If a huge asteroid smashes into the moon in 2032, the gigantic explosion would send debris streaming toward Earth that would threaten satellites and create a spectacular meteor shower, according to researchers.

Earlier this year there were briefly fears that the 60-meter-wide (200-foot-wide) asteroid called 2024 YR4, which is big enough to level a city, would strike Earth on December 22, 2032.

It was given the highest chance—3.1%—of hitting our home planet that scientists have ever measured for such a giant space rock.

However, the odds that it will crash into the moon have risen to 4.3%, according to data from the James Webb Space Telescope in May.

A new preprint study, which has not been peer-reviewed, is the first to estimate how such a collision could affect Earth.

It would be the largest asteroid to hit the moon in around 5,000 years, lead study author Paul Wiegert of Canada's University of Western Ontario told AFP.

The impact would be "comparable to a large nuclear explosion in terms of the amount of energy released," he added.

Up to 100 million kilograms (220 million pounds) of material would shoot out from the moon's surface, according to a series of simulations run by the researchers.