WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- An asteroid estimated to be around one kilometer wide will fly by Earth safely on Tuesday, according to NASA.
The near-earth asteroid, known as 7482 (1994 PC1), will safely fly past earth about 1.98 million kilometers away, moving at 43,744 miles per hour (69,990 kilometers per hour), at around 4:51 p.m. Eastern Time, according to NASA.
The asteroid is very well known as it has been studied for decades by NASA's planetary defense experts.
Near-Earth objects are asteroids and comets with orbits that bring them to within 195 million kilometers of the Sun. Most near-Earth objects are asteroids that range in size from about a few meters to nearly 40 kilometers across, according to NASA. ■
