Asteroid Could Hit Earth With Force of 2.6 Billion Tons

Scientists discovered the asteroid nearly 20 years ago, but its mysterious flight path made it lost for decades

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An asteroid lost to scientists over a decade ago is back, and while the chances are slim, it could strike Earth with the force of 2.6 billion tons of TNT this year.

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NASA said in a statement to MSN that asteroid FT3, first discovered and then lost in 2007, has a 1 in 10 million chance of colliding with Earth on October 5.

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Scientists say it's very likely we'll escape just fine, but WPXI notes in a report that even sometimes people win the billion-dollar lottery, and those odds are 1 in 300 million.

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The real threat to Earth, MSN reports, is asteroid 29075.

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That asteroid would hit the planet with the force of 75 billion tons of TNT, and yes, experts say that's enough to end humanity.

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That asteroid has a 1 in 34,500, chance of hitting Earth on March 16, 2880.

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