A post is being shared on social media, which claims that NASA has issued a big warning about an alleged collision of Asteroid Bennu and the Earth. According to the viral post, this asteroid will hit the Earth in the year 2175. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: An asteroid known as Bennu will collide with the Earth in the year 2175.
Fact: NASA discovered asteroid Bennu in 1999, and according to them, there is a slight chance of it colliding with the Earth. The chance of Bennu impacting the Earth between 2175 and 2199 is only 1 in 2700. They never declared that Bennu would surely be colliding with Earth in 2175. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We looked for details about the Asteroid Bennu on the internet. This led us to an article published by NASA on their website. In the article titled ‘Ten Things to Know About Bennu’, NASA said, ‘
There is a small chance that Bennu will impact earth late in the next century.‘ According to them, the chance of this Near Earth Object impacting the Earth between 2175-2199 is 1 in 2700. They never said it would collide with Earth in the year 2175.
To know more details about the asteroid Bennu like how NASA is collecting Bennu’s surface samples, and to have a video tour of the asteroid, you can click here and here.
To sum it up, the post falsely claims that Asteroid Bennu will collide with the Earth in 2175. According to NASA, the chances of this happening are 1 in 2700.
