5 Doomsday Predictions We Can Look Forward To (And 3 In The Distant Future)

The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, a collaboration between the United States Air Force, NASA, and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, was developed to detect and track near earth objects. On September 11 1999 they discovered an asteroid that is now known as Bennu.

Bennu circles the earth every 6 years and each time it does, it gets closer. In 2035 it has a very minimal chance of actually colliding with Earth but astronomers warn that if it hits a gravitational key-hole during that pass, it will be put on a collision course with Earth in 2185.

One concerning point about this prediction is that for the first time ever, NASA has launched a probe with the intention of gathering samples from this asteroid during its 2035 approach to allow scientists to accurately study the asteroid’s physical makeup. The intent is this knowledge would help if NASA wanted to try and alter its course in the future if threats arose.

At approximately 492 meters in diameter, if Bennu was to ever hit Earth the impact would cause approximately 1200 megatons of kinetic energy. Which for perspective is slightly less than the total destructive capacity of the current global arsenal of nuclear weapons.