NASA Confirms No Threat from Asteroid 2024 YR4

NASA has announced that the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 poses no threat to Earth or the Moon, following refined trajectory calculations based on recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. The space rock, discovered in December 2024, will safely pass the Moon at a distance of about 13,200 miles on December 22, 2032, eliminating earlier concerns of a potential collision.

The asteroid, measuring roughly 200 feet in diameter, initially raised alarms among astronomers due to preliminary orbital data suggesting a small probability of impacting Earth in 2032. Estimates at the time placed the odds at around 3 percent, enough to elevate it on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, a tool used to assess potential threats from near-Earth objects. As additional telescope observations accumulated, scientists at NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies ruled out any risk to the planet, shifting attention to a possible lunar strike.

Further analysis late last year indicated a 4 percent chance that 2024 YR4 could hit the Moon during its close approach. Traveling at more than 29,000 miles per hour, such an impact would have released energy equivalent to 500 times the Hiroshima atomic...