Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
At up to 280 meters wide, asteroid FA22 towers nearly four times taller than Delhi’s Qutub Minar. The size comparison alone has skywatchers buzzing about this cosmic giant’s close pass.
Representative pic
Hurtling at 24,127 miles per hour, FA22 will streak past Earth in a blur—fast enough to circle the planet in just over an hour, leaving astronomers scrambling to capture data.
Though it passes more than twice the Moon’s distance away, FA22 qualifies as “potentially hazardous.” The paradox? A safe flyby, yet big enough to remind us how fragile Earth is.
Completing a lap around the Sun every 1.85 years, FA22’s slightly tilted path keeps scientists on alert. Even tiny nudges from gravity or solar radiation could alter its long-term course.
At 842,000 kilometers, FA22 misses Earth comfortably, but the distance is still close enough in cosmic terms to demand radar tracking, trajectory modeling, and international vigilance.
NASA flags anything over 85 meters within 7.4 million km as “potentially hazardous.” By that yardstick, FA22 fits the bill—though detailed checks ruled out any strike threat this century.
As NASA leads tracking, ISRO is preparing for its own asteroid moment. With Apophis looming in 2029, FA22’s encounter offers India a test case for deeper space defense ambitions.
FA22 is harmless—but it’s a reminder that hidden threats lurk in the void. Each flyby sharpens humanity’s ability to predict, deflect, or one day stop an asteroid that isn’t so forgiving.