Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

NASA: A fridge-size asteroid is headed toward Earth one day before the November election

NASA: A fridge-size asteroid is headed toward Earth one day before the November election

An asteroid has a slim chance of entering the Earth's atmosphere on November 2.
That's one day before the US election. Because of its small size, the asteroid, dubbed 2018VP1, would burn off while hurtling toward the planet.
An asteroid has a slim chance of entering the Earth's atmosphere on November 2, one day before the US election, according to NASA.

Named 2018VP1, the asteroid is pretty tiny, according to NASA data.

It has only a 0.41% likelihood of entering Earth's atmosphere, but celestial objects that size tend to burn up anyway before reaching the ground, NASA told Business Insider.

"Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approximately 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth," a NASA representative told Business Insider. That's about 2 meters long, like a refrigerator. "If it were to enter our planet's atmosphere, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size."

2018VP1 has had a few close encounters with Earth before, dating back to 1970. It most recently visited in November 2018, roughly when it was discovered at California's Palomar Observatory.

It's due back, after a two-year orbit around the sun, to come within 4,800 to 260,000 miles of our atmosphere, NASA data shows. For reference, the International Space Station sits about 254 miles above the planet.

The size of asteroids like this one makes them hard to spot until they get close to Earth, but most pass by much farther away than the moon, NASA said in a recent release.

In fact, one dubbed 2020 QG passed just 1,830 miles above the Indian Ocean last week - the closest such encounter on record - and NASA didn't even see it coming, it said.

In 2005, NASA was directed by Congress to discover 90% of potentially dangerous asteroids larger than 459 feet in size by the end of 2020.

"It's quite an accomplishment to find these tiny close-in asteroids in the first place, because they pass by so fast," said Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

"There's typically only a short window of a couple of days before or after close approach when this small of an asteroid is close enough to Earth to be bright enough but not so close that it moves too fast in the sky to be detected by a telescope," he said.

Between the coronavirus pandemic, a reckoning with racial justice, sky-high depression and anxiety, election season, and other recent events, people are joking about the asteroid's perceived embodiment of 2020.

"It seems like 2020 just won't let up," the Milwaukee-based Fox 6 Now wrote on Twitter.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×