The Asteroids That Almost Hit Earth and the One Coming in 2029

Space is vast, but Earth's neighborhood can feel surprisingly crowded. In the past two decades, several asteroids have passed close enough to Earth to qualify as some of the nearest recorded misses in history. Most slipped by unnoticed by the general public. One exploded over Russia and shattered windows across six cities. And in 2029, one of the largest ever tracked will pass closer to Earth than many of our own satellites.

The Closest Recorded Near-Misses in Modern History

The record for closest confirmed approach belongs to a small asteroid designated 2020 VT4. In November 2020, it passed just 383 kilometers above Earth's surface, roughly the altitude of the International Space Station. Astronomers didn't even detect it until after it had already gone past. At only about five meters wide, 2020 VT4 would have burned up in the atmosphere had it been on a collision course, but its flyby was a reminder of how quickly objects can arrive without warning.

In March 2004, asteroid 2004 FU162 passed within 6,500 kilometers of Earth, closer than most weather satellites. At around 10 meters wide, it posed no real threat even if it had entered the atmosphere. More recently, in January 2023, an asteroid called 2023 BU passed about 3,600 kilometers above South America, closer than some high-altitude weather satellites and well below the orbit of GPS satellites. It measured between 3.5 and 8.5 meters across, and astronomers detected it just days before the flyby.

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