Nearby asteroid ‘not too big of a deal,’ says former astronaut

  • A rocky-surfaced asteroid passed within 100,000 miles of Earth on Saturday
  • The airplane-size asteroid was initially categorized as "potentially hazardous"
  • "It's a big deal, but not too big of a deal," former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez said

Scientists on Saturday were able to observe what NASA had categorized as a “potentially hazardous” asteroid the size of an airplane passing within 100,000 miles — about half the distance to the moon — of Earth.

But fear not, former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez reassured, citing a recent experiment.

The rocky-surfaced asteroid, which orbits the sun about every three years, “is a big deal, but not too big of a deal,” according to Hernandez, president and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering.

“This trajectory is well known … so we’re pretty sure of the trajectory,” Hernandez told “NewsNation Prime.”

Watch the full interview in the player above.

Space

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