Will an asteroid ever hit Earth? There are no known impact threats, but tiny meteoroids disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere all the time. Dr. Kelly Fast, planetary defense expert and a manager in NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office tells us more.
Yes, asteroids have hit Earth over the course of its history, and it will happen again.
Dust, meteoroids, and even small asteroids hit Earth all the time and they create the meteors or “shooting stars” that you see as they disintegrate in the atmosphere. But impacts of asteroids that affect the surface are much rarer and happen on time scales of hundreds to thousands to millions of years.
Finding asteroids that may pose a hazard to Earth as early as possible is important for advanced warning and, if necessary, to mitigate against a future impact threat should one ever be discovered. The good news is that larger asteroids are much easier to find, and there are fewer of them in our solar system.
Learn more about NASA’s planetary defense efforts: https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense
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