Asteroid's 'Current Probability Of No Impact in 2032 at About 99.998 Percent'

The chances of a newly discovered asteroid actually hitting the Earth when it comes back around in 20 years is estimated to be one in 63,000, according to a NASA news release.

The asteroid, 2013 TV135, missed Earth by about 4.2 millions miles on Sept. 16 and is set for another close encounter in 2023. The asteroid was discovered Oct. 8 and was determined to be one of 10,332 near-Earth objects as of Oct. 14.

Based on only a week's worth of observations, the asteroid is likely to come toward Earth again, but its flight path is still uncertain. NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office stated the probability that the asteroid will actually impact the planet is very low, about one in 63,000.

Additional observance is scheduled for the asteroid as doing so is expected to become much easier in the coming months. NASA is also expecting observations from the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., at which point the space agency will likely declare slight or no risk of impact with the Earth.

Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office (also known as "Spaceguard") at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., went ahead of the results and assured people of the low risk the planet faces.

"To put it another way, that puts the current probability of no impact in 2032 at about 99.998 percent," he said. "This is a relatively new discovery. With more observations, I fully expect we will be able to significantly reduce, or rule out entirely, any impact probability for the foreseeable future."

Spaceguard is responsible for discovering these near-Earth objects and NASA tracks and characterizes them using ground- and space-based telescopes. The space agency confirmed that such flybys of spatial objects occur on a daily basis.

However, NASA did acknowledge that in all likelihood, a gargantuan "doomsday" asteroid was likely responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs. Scientists have not ruled out the possibility of such an asteroid to strike the Earth again, but those only happen about every 65 millions years or so.