Lucas Englert

Staff Writer

       Asteroids, comets, and other unidentified objects floating in space are things we are familiar with and have learned about. What we don’t get to experience with these objects is them coming within a close vicinity of our planet. Saturday, a space rock did just that.

       At around 1 A.M. Paducah time, the rock named “2006 VV2” reached within 2 million miles of Earth. That seems unreasonable for such a big number to be considered a close call, but in space that’s about as close as it gets without the object actually hitting the Earth. Nothing actually came about from the asteroid as it flew by, but if it would have struck the impact would have been severe. According to Scientist Jay Tate, “it would have changed the climate unlike ever before.” This being in a time where we are already experiencing natural global warming could have caused a disaster. Along with climate changes, the asteroid would have taken out a huge part of the Earth’s surface, destroying some countries altogether.

       Although we dodged the asteroid this time, another one is already predicted to come even closer to Earth between the years 2029 and 2036. Chances are this one will miss us as well, but the fact that the objects are coming more often, and closer with each time is a little frightening. It has been said that the next one will even be visible on Earth. All of these details make you wonder what effects an asteroid might have on our generation in the future, and if it can impact our planet forever.