NASA warns of a possibility of an asteroid striking Earth in 159 years

NASA has vigilantly monitored an asteroid for nearly a quarter of a century, and recent findings suggest it may pose a future threat to Earth.

What

• Initially spotted in 1999, this near-Earth asteroid, named Bennu, could potentially cross Earth's path.
• The OSIRIS-REx science team suggests that Bennu could potentially collide with Earth by September 2182.
• Bennu, the asteroid, has passed close to Earth three times in 1999, 2005, and 2011, and on September 25, 2135, it will have another close encounter, with a slight possibility that it might pass through a "gravitational keyhole," as per Science Direct.

• Bennu comes close to Earth every six years, and scientists say there's a minute 0.037% chance, or 1 in 2,700, that it could actually impact Earth during one of those passes.
• In October 2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched down on Bennu to collect a sample before departing from the asteroid.
• If the asteroid, roughly a third of a mile wide, were to strike Earth, it could cause devastation over a vast area and release energy equivalent to about 22 atomic bombs, as reported by Earth.com. 

This impact would still pale in comparison to the colossal asteroid that is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, estimated to be about 6 miles wide.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, named Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, achieved a historic feat by briefly landing on the asteroid Bennu in 2020, collecting approximately 2 pounds of rock and dirt samples.

The first-ever asteroid sample collected in space safely made its way to Earth, touching down in Utah, according to ABC.

Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluyesi believes that NASA's mission could alter our understanding of our solar system by granting us access to untouched materials that might reveal its early secrets, and there's even a slim possibility of finding signs of life's building blocks, making this a groundbreaking effort.