Video: Asteroid 2012 DA14’s safe passage near Earth on February 15

Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 is generating a lot of buzz, and no wonder. On February 15, 2013, it’ll pass very close to Earth – within 17,200 miles (about 28,000 kilometers). It’ll pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites. NASA has done a good job, in our opinion, getting information out to the public about this object and its 2013 passage. A couple of recent videos can be seen below. The first is narrated by Dr. Donald Yeomans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He is a senior research scientist and manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office and so is uniquely qualified to speak about past, present and future passages of near-Earth asteroids.

The second video, also from NASA, is an animation depicting the trajectory of asteroid 2012 DA14 as it travels within the Earth-moon system on February 15. It’s as if you’re traveling along with the asteroid. It looks scary at first, but then you see … it doesn’t hit us.

The final video shown here provides an overview of near-Earth objects with emphasis on the upcoming close approach of asteroid 2012 DA14.

Bottom line: A collection of recent videos from NASA about the upcoming close approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 on February 15, 2013.

Via NASA