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A small asteroid shifted to Earth at 14.9 kilometers at the time, and NASA admitted that she did not know that it was going to happen. The space rock known as 2019 MO was only three meters wide and exploded when it hit the planet's atmosphere on July 22 over the Caribbean, but the way it approached unexpectedly reaffirms the need to have more eye on the sky. NASA said, "The first time we were spotted, 2019 was about 500,000 kilometers from Earth – farther than the orbit of our moon.
"It was about equivalent to locating an object the size of a gnat at a distance of 500 kilometers (310 miles)."
Davide Farnocchia, a scientist at NASA's Near-Earth Objects (NEO) Center, said, "Asteroids of this size are much smaller than what we need to monitor.
"They are so small that they would not survive crossing our atmosphere to cause damage to the surface of the Earth."
According to NASA, the problem was that the space agency was not able to determine the direction the space rock would take.
NASA said: "The body was spotted only four times in a little less than half an hour, which was not enough to determine where the object or the object came from. exactly where he was heading. "
Last month, the European Space Agency (ESA) said it also missed an NEO, calling for better surveillance of asteroids.
On July 25, a huge asteroid that was about the size of a Scottish soccer field on Earth and scientists did not know it was going to happen.
The asteroid in question is known as "2019 OK" and, at its first discovery, it was not classified as an asteroid close to the Earth.
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However, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed that scientists had only noticed that it was traveling near the Earth "only a few days" before moving to a speed of 65,000 km, a fifth of the distance that separates him from the moon.
ESA said: "The 100-meter-wide asteroid nicknamed" 2019 OK "was detected a few days before it crossed the Earth, although records from the sky records show that it had already been observed but that he was not recognized as an asteroid close to the Earth.
"We know and follow thousands of asteroids in the solar system, so why was it discovered so late?
"Unfortunately, there is currently no obvious reason for it, except for its slow movement in the sky before its approaching approach.
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"OK 2019 also travels in a highly elliptical orbit, taking it from the orbit of Venus to well beyond that of Mars.
"This means that the time it spends near the Earth and that it is detectable with the current capabilities of the telescope is relatively short.
"ESA, NASA and other agencies and organizations around the world – professionals and amateurs – are discovering new asteroids every day.
"This work is constantly increasing our understanding of the number, distribution and movement of rocky bodies in orbit."
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