An asteroid named 2024 MT-1 was passing by Earth on July 9, 2024, traveling at over 40,000 miles per hour and approximately 936,0 miles away from Earth
NASA continues to monitor the skies and conduct exercises to prepare for any potential asteroid impact
NASA held a tabletop exercise simulating a hypothetical asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years, but no known significant asteroid threats exist for the foreseeable future according to NASA
There are recent reports about asteroids passing by Earth
In recent news, there have been several reports about asteroids passing by Earth. Let's take a closer look at some of these stories and separate fact from fiction.
Firstly, there was a claim that NASA had issued a warning about an asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth on July 12, 2038. However, this turned out to be false. NASA held a tabletop exercise in June 2024 to assess the US response to a potential asteroid impact. The exercise simulated a hypothetical asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years, but no known significant asteroid threats exist for the foreseeable future according to NASA.
Another report stated that an asteroid named 2024 MT-1 was passing by Earth on July 9, 2024. This is true. The asteroid was traveling at over 40,000 miles per hour and would come closest to Earth, approximately 936,00 miles away. It is just over 79 meters wide and takes around 1.2 years to orbit the sun.
Lastly, NASA led regular exercises to prepare for the discovery of an asteroid with a chance of impacting Earth. In one scenario, an asteroid a few hundred meters across had a 72% chance of impacting Earth in about 14 years. The impact would have only a .04% chance of affecting more than 10 million people if it hit the Dallas metropolitan area.
It's important to note that while these asteroid passages are interesting, there is currently no known asteroid threat to Earth. NASA continues to monitor the skies and conduct exercises to prepare for any potential impact.
NASA leads regular exercises to prepare for discovery of an asteroid with a chance of impacting Earth
Scenario involved an asteroid a few hundred meters across with a 72% chance of impacting Earth in about 14 years
.04% chance the impact would affect more than 10 million people if it hit Dallas metropolitan area
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(95%)
No formal fallacies were found in the article. However, there is an example of a dichotomous depiction and an appeal to authority. The dichotomous depiction comes from the statement that 'International collaborators contributed to the discussion for the first time in one of these exercises', implying that either they did participate or they didn't, creating a false dichotomy. The appeal to authority is evident in phrases such as 'NASA recently released a preliminary report on the results of the exercise, with a fully detailed one to come in August' and 'Participants... agreed that the tabletop exercise was a massive success'. These statements give undue weight to NASA and the participants' opinions without providing substantive evidence for their claims.
International collaborators contributed to the discussion for the first time in one of these exercises.
