Could an asteroid really hit Earth? Odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 reach highest levels ever

1. While asteroid YR4 still has a nearly 97% chance to completely miss Earth in 2032, its odds of impact, which now stand at 3.1%, represent the highest risk level of any large space rock ever. Those odds may seem low, but the newly calculated probability of a collision with Earth is a new record – one that merits close attention from astronomers in the years ahead as they track the asteroid hurtling through the cosmos. Initial projections gave the asteroid little more than a 1% chance of impacting Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. Those odds have steadily increased since then and now stand at a record 3.1%. Do you think asteroid YR4 will hit Earth?

2. Even though the asteroid is relatively small, a collision with Earth could still cause significant devastation – especially if it were to have a direct hit on a city. In September 2022, NASA demonstrated that it was possible to nudge an incoming asteroid out of harm's way by slamming a spacecraft into one as part of its Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. As of October, a craft from the European Space Agency is on the way to get an up-close look at the asteroid's remnants. Do you think if it was going to crash on Earth, that NASA or another space agency could stop the asteroid?