A huge asteroid, almost as broad as three football fields, is hurtling towards Earth for what NASA describes as a “close approach,” inciting increased scrutiny by world planetary defense specialists. Officially designated as Asteroid 2003 MH4, the 335-metre wide behemoth is set to fly by Earth on May 24, 2025, at an incredible velocity of 14 kilometres per second—sufficient to travel from Delhi to Mumbai within less than a minute.
‘Potentially’ Hazardous Asteroid
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) defines the asteroid as coming as close as 6.68 million kilometres to Earth. From a human point of view, that is very far. Astronomically speaking, however, it’s a close call. NASA defines anything larger than 150 metres in diameter and closer than 7.5 million kilometres to Earth as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid,” and 2003 MH4 definitely fits into that category. Researchers at NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) are closely monitoring its trajectory.
2003 MH4 is part of the Apollo family, a clan of Earth-crossing asteroids discovered for the first time in 1932. The family now consists of over 21,000 known members, some with orbits intersecting Earth’s path. These asteroids are monitored by a global network of ground-based telescopes and computer models that predict their paths.
Future Flybys Could Be Risky
In spite of its size and velocity, the asteroid is not an immediate threat of collision when it is scheduled to make its next pass. Still, scientists are on notice because of its size and orbital trajectory. The asteroid orbits the Sun in approximately 410 days, so it might make multiple close flybys in the future. A small adjustment in its path—perhaps from gravitational slingshots—might raise the odds of collision in the future.
“We’re monitoring its path closely not because of an imminent threat, but because its orbital characteristics make it worth watching,” scientists suggest.
Asteroid 2003 MH4 is only one of many space rocks that are being monitored on an ongoing basis. Asteroid Apophis, which at one time was thought to collide with Earth in 2029, was cleared as a potential threat following years of research. In the meantime, both 2024 YR4 and 2025 FA22 are being monitored. Of special interest is 2025 FA22, which is forecast to fly by close in 2089, although at the moment the chance of a collision is just 0.01%.
As the flyby date nears, scientists worldwide are getting set to closely monitor 2003 MH4. Although it won’t be a threat to Earth at this pass, it reminds us of a sobering fact: we reside in a volatile and possibly menacing solar system.
