A huge asteroid that was briefly feared to strike Earth now has a nearly 4% chance of smashing into the moon, according to new data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
The asteroid, thought to be capable of levelling a city, set a new record in February for having the highest chance – 3.1% – of hitting our home planet than scientists have ever measured.
Earth’s planetary defence community leapt into action and further observations quickly ruled out that the asteroid – called 2024 YR4 – will strike Earth on 22 December 2032.
But the odds that it will instead crash into Earth’s satellite have been steadily rising.
After the Webb telescope turned its powerful gaze towards the asteroid last month, the chance of a moon shot is now at 3.8%, NASA…