This Huge Asteroid Won't Destroy Earth - It’s Headed for the Moon

0:00Your body isn't a problem, DeFix. It's a system to support, from PMS to pregnancy to menopause. Ollie's woman's wellness line is built on real science for every stage. No guilt. No stigmas. Just science-backed supplements that work with you, not against you. Choose science over shame. Find support at a retailer near you or on Ollie.com. That's O-L-L-Y.com. Streaming on peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slappney, it's Joss something loose. I like that. The certified fresh series returns. Your boss. You always like that, so worries is just that I don't know if this is mad. Oyster is everybody. There's a certain satisfaction on your work with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You're a sadistic pig. The paper. New season streaming September 9th only on peacock. This show gives me a reason to live. That tiny dot in the sky is an asteroid called 2024-Y-R-4.

1:05And it gave scientists a serious scare. Early projections showed a 2.3% chance that it could hit Earth. That might sound small, but for an object big enough to wipe out a city, it was enough to raise alarms. Now there's good news and bad news. The good. No longer on a collision course with our planet. The bad, it might be heading for the moon instead. Astronomers first spotted it in the El Saus Observatory in Chile back in December 2024. Judging by how bright it appeared, they estimated its size to be somewhere between 130 and 300 feet wide. That's about the size of a football field. If something this big hit Earth, it could be truly catastrophic. I mean, not on the level of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, but still enough to destroy an entire city, depending on where it lands. Drop it over Paris, London, or New York, and you're looking at complete devastation across

2:08the city and nearby areas. That's why it was considered one of the most dangerous space rocks to ever come near us. It makes total sense that this asteroid became a bit of a celebrity. From the moment it was discovered, up until February 2025, the risk of a collision just kept climbing. But now, we can breathe a little easier. New calculations from NASA have completely ruled out any chance of impact. In fact, there's no serious threat from this asteroid for at least the next 100 years. Okay. But how did we go from this as a threat to, oops, we were wrong. That happens quite often, actually. I mean, an asteroid seems risky at first, then it gets even riskier, and then out of nowhere, it's suddenly safe. Does that mean we can't trust their math? You see, the first time specialists spot an asteroid, it's really just a tiny dot of light in the sky. At that point, they have no idea what it is or where it's headed.

3:10Then they have to observe it again and do some math. That will help them figure out the path they're moving on. But even then, it's still a bit uncertain. They don't really know where the asteroid is going, so the risk corridor is this huge area where it could fly through. If any part of that corridor crosses Earth, the asteroid is considered a threat. Usually, at least three observations are needed to figure out its orbit. Basically, how fast it's moving and where it's headed. A lot of times, as they start to get a clearer picture, the risk zone still overlaps with Earth, so it looks more dangerous at first. But typically, as they keep tracking it, the risk zone gets smaller and moves away from Earth, and suddenly, the risk drops. And they keep narrowing down the uncertainties until they can confidently say, relax y'all, it's not heading for Earth. And that's exactly what happened to just our famous 2024 YR4. So we can all relax a bit now, right?

4:12Yeah, we know that 2024 YR4 won't hit us, but it could end up crashing into the moon instead. At first, projection said there was a 1.7% chance of that happening in 2032. But recently, that number has gone up a little to 3.8%. If it does hit the moon, though, it won't be dangerous for us. I mean, there won't be any shock waves felt here on Earth, and the moon isn't going to crack in half. Experts say nothing really shocking or concerning would happen, but it would be an awesome opportunity to see a lunar impact. If we're lucky, we might even catch the exact moment it happens. And if we miss it, we will still get to observe a brand new crater on our natural satellite. Such events are pretty common for the moon, since it doesn't have an atmosphere to protect it from incoming debris. In fact, there are hundreds of detectable impacts each year. See those bright spots lighting up?

5:13These are real images of asteroids hitting the moon. But specialists aren't just sitting around and waiting. They've been keeping an eye on lunar impacts for years. For example, the European Space Agency has a project called Naliota, where they use a powerful telescope in Greece to track these impacts. They recorded over 100 tiny explosions from space rocks hitting the moon. They also have the Lumio mission, which is a small satellite that counts lunar impact flashes on the far side of the moon, the side we can't see from Earth. These observations help scientists understand how often the moon gets hit and how this might affect astronauts and lunar bases. Now, 2024-YR4 might be a special case. That's because most space objects that collide with the moon are really small. We've never seen a collision with something larger than about 160 feet.

6:16If YR4 does hit, it could be an amazing sight. So yeah, scientists are kind of hoping it happens. But 2024-YR4 isn't the only asteroid on the radar. There are actually quite a few others that have been classified as potentially hazardous. In simple terms, that means this one might cause us some trouble. You see, there are millions of big space rocks out there in the solar system, mostly chilling in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But only a few ever get close to Earth, and even fewer actually pose any real risk. NASA calls asteroids that orbit within 30 million miles of Earth near Earth objects. And within that group, there's a smaller bunch of really big ones that orbit super close to us. If one of those were to hit us, it could be a big deal. There are about 2,500 of those asteroids at least that we know of. But here's the good news.

7:17Specialists don't expect any of them to hit Earth anytime soon. A few might come pretty close though, or already have, like the 2014 TN17. An asteroid that's about 540 feet wide. It got pretty close to us in March 2025, zipping by just 3.2 million miles from Earth. That's roughly 13 times further than the Moon. So yeah, not exactly close, right? But when you think about the vastness of the Universe, it's actually kind of near. In fact, that was the closest this asteroid has come to Earth in nearly 300 years. Thankfully, nothing happened, and that asteroid has already drifted away from Earth again. But it's not like you need to lose sleep over asteroids that could hit our planet. Little asteroids enter Earth's atmosphere every single day. It's the big ones we worry about, like the ones you see in Hollywood movies, like Armageddon. But asteroids like that are being constantly monitored.

8:19All the objects we know of today have zero or one chance of impacting Earth. And if things change, there are a few strategies that could be used to save humanity from an impact. Take the Dark Mission, for example. Which happened in 2022. This was NASA's first test of planetary defense. They successfully managed to deflect an asteroid off its cores using a spacecraft. In this case, the asteroid didn't pose any threat to Earth, but it was the perfect test subject. There are also more experimental ideas out there. For example, lasers could vaporize part of an asteroid to create a thrust effect, pushing it off cores. Another idea is the gravity tractor. A big spacecraft that slowly tugs the asteroid away using its own gravitational pull. But all of these are still just ideas for now. If we can't pull any of those off, authorities would probably still have enough time to evacuate the impact zones.

9:20So yeah, I wouldn't stress too much about an asteroid impact. And we're back. Streaming on peacock. May I present to you the award-winning staff of the Toledo Truth Teller. Slappney, it's Joss and Mellus. Ah yes! I like that. The certified fresh series returns. Your boss. You always like that, so ours is just an eye-own. This is mad. Oyster is everybody! It was a certain satisfaction when you worked with someone. Maybe we could be a family. You're a sadistic pig. The paper. New season streaming September 9th, only on peacock. This show gives me a reason to laugh. Have you heard that McDonald's spicy chicken McNuggets made with spicy tempura and a blend of aged cayenne are back? Remember to grab a few extra napkins. Bottom up, bup bup bup. For a limited time at participating McDonald's.