October 5 2024 Asteroid. Every year, dozens of asteroids come closer to our planet than the moon is, and yet catastrophic collisions are exceedingly rare. Now, a new study proposes that earth has a built.

The asteroid has a slightly lower probability of 0.0000087% — or 1 in 11.5 million — chance of striking earth on oct. With solar panels the size of a singles tennis court, psyche the spacecraft will use the tiny but constant push from ion engines to spiral outward from the sun, flying past mars in spring 2026 and arriving into orbit at asteroid.