[meteorite-list] Asteroid Icarus to Make Distant Pass on June 16

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:38:12 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201506152338.t5FNcCVQ029374_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4625

Asteroid Icarus to Make Distant Pass Tuesday
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 15, 2015

Asteroid Icarus will safely pass by Earth at more than 21 times the distance
of Earth to the moon on June 16. To put it another way, Icarus, one of
the first near-Earth asteroids ever discovered (1949), will approach no
closer than five million miles away (eight million kilometers). On June
14, 2090, the asteroid will approach marginally closer, with a close approach
distance of about 17 lunar distances (four million miles, or six-and-a-half
million kilometers).

NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets using both
ground- and space-based telescopes. Elements of the Near-Earth Object
Program, often referred to as "Spaceguard," discover these objects, characterize
a subset of them and identify their close approaches to determine if any
could be potentially hazardous to our planet. NASA's Near-Earth Object
Program is part of the agency's asteroid initiative, which includes sending
a robotic spacecraft to capture a boulder from the surface of a near-Earth
asteroid and move it into a stable orbit around the moon for exploration
by astronauts, all in support of advancing the nation's journey to Mars.

JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

To get updates on passing space rocks, follow:

http://twitter.com/asteroidwatch


Media Contact

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

2015-204
Received on Mon 15 Jun 2015 07:38:12 PM PDT