TOO CLOSE! Asteroid 2019 QQ narrowly misses Earth after being spotted two days ago

Asteroid 2019 QQ pounced by Earth at 9:30 EST (3:30 BST) on Friday night, Inquisitr quoted the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as saying. The space rock was estimated to measure as much as 177 feet across.

Interestingly, the asteroid 2019 QQ was only discovered on August 21 – just two days before its impending close brush with Earth. The space rock was about to perform a momentous flyby of Earth and was on course for its closest-ever approach to the Earth, according to a new report released by the JPL.

The JPL scientists classified 2019 QQ as a near-Earth object (NEO), specifically an Apollo-type asteroid. When NEOs orbit around the sun they can comes as close as a few times the distance to the moon to Earth.

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Meanwhile, reports suggest that an asteroid called 2000 QW7, almost the size of Burj Khalifa, is approaching towards the Earth, and likely to pass the planet at a speed of 23,112 kilometres per hour on September 14, according to reports. The space rock, measuring between 290 and 650 metres, is larger than The Shard in London. Currently, the NASA's Centre for Near Earth Object Studies is monitoring its activities.

However, 2000 QW7 will not be a danger to the Earth as the asteroid will pass within 0.03564 astronomical units of the Earth - or 5.3 million km away from the surface.

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The NASA is also planning to send a probe to an asteroid called 16 Psyche that could hold thousands of billions of pounds worth of gold, platinum and other special metals. The asteroid 16 Psyche, which is located in the primary asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, could contain precious metals such as gold and platinum, which may be worth thousands of billions of pounds.

Daily Express reported that the NASA is planning to launch a solar powered space probe towards the asteroid in 2022, which should arrive in 2026. It would then spend two years investigating the asteroids metallic composition.

According to NBC News, experts believe the asteroid could contain precious metals such as gold and platinum, which may be worth thousands of billions of pounds.