Why is this news?
An asteroid the size of a double-decker bus skimmed past Earth yesterday, flying within the orbit of the moon.It is in the news not because of the asteroid itself but because of what saw it coming: "Nasa-backed Arizona Kitt Peak National Observatory Solar Telescope." This is NASA's last ditch for big funding and universal public support: fear of space. The agency's main educational mission is to keep everyone always near the memory of what happened to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Who knew this would be the terminal point of the space race? Wonder does not open the purse as well as fear.
The space rock, labelled 2010 TD54, passed away approximately 28,000 miles away at 10.51am GMT.
Scientists had said that despite its close proximity to the planet, the asteroid would not enter the Earth's atmosphere and, if it had, it would have most likely burned up before reaching the ground.
