NASA warns that thousands of asteroids could threaten Earth.
Vietnam.vn EN
05/03/2026 12:24:00
Scientist Kelly Fast warns about undiscovered asteroids that could cause catastrophe for Earth.
Kelly Fast, NASA's head of planetary defense, recently issued a worrying warning that thousands of asteroids are near Earth but remain undiscovered. (Image: Science Photo Library/Andrzej Wojcicki/Getty Images)
"What kept me awake all night was the asteroids we don't yet know about,"
scientist Fast expressed his concern about asteroids that could crash into Earth but whose location is yet to be determined. Photo: scitechdaily.com.
According to scientist Fast, the most worrying aspect is the group of medium-sized asteroids, each with a diameter of approximately 150 meters. They are small enough to be undetectable by current observation systems. (Image: dottedhippo via Getty Images)
However, this type of asteroid is large enough to cause widespread disaster if it collided with Earth. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.
Scientists call this group of medium-sized asteroids "city destroyers." It is estimated that around 25,000 asteroids in this group orbit Earth. Photo: NASA.
However, experts have only located about 40% of these asteroids. This means there are still approximately 15,000 asteroids that could crash into Earth, but humans are still unaware of them or unable to locate them. Photo: buradaki via Getty Images.
According to scientists, the biggest challenge in detecting asteroids dubbed "city destroyers" lies in their size and orbital position. Due to their medium size, they are not bright enough to reflect as much sunlight as larger asteroids. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC).
Furthermore, some of these "city destroyers" even move close to Earth's orbit around the Sun, making detection even more difficult. Even the most advanced telescopes struggle to detect asteroids in this group. Image: SciTechDaily.com.
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