NASA Update As Plane-sized Asteroid Is Approaching Earth At 47,000 Mph | Science | News...

Reference: Found here

NASA has announced that an asteroid the size of a plane is on course to pass by planet Earth next week . While news of the huge rock's approach has been hitting headlines, NASA experts are keen to clarify that the event will be 'more routine than remarkable'.

Officially known as 2025 OW, the asteroid is reportedly 220 feet big . According to NASA's schedule, it will pass Earth on Monday, July 28, approaching with 390k miles to spare.

You can check out NASA's projection of the large space rock online . 

NASA says this is about 1.6 times the normal distance to the moon. The average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). 2025 OW is moving at a speed of 46,908 miles per hour, which, although it may sound incredibly fast , is completely normal and shouldn't be anything to be concerned about.

Speaking to ABC News, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory media relations specialist Ian O'Neill said: "This is very routine. If there was a threat, you would hear from us. We would always put out alerts on our planetary defence blog."

Fellow NASA expert, Davide Farnocchia, of the space centre's Near-Earth Object Studies, described the approaching asteroid as essentially 'just another day at the office'. He said: "Close approaches happen all the time, it's just part of the fabric of the solar system."

His team typically monitors multiple asteroids that pass by Earth each week . Although 2025 OW is significant enough to attract the attention of NASA scientists, its well-known orbit indicates that it is not a threat.

"We have a precise understanding of its trajectory," O'Neill said. "We will likely know its path for the next century."