NASA calculations show that an asteroid roughly as large as the Great Pyramid of Giza was made to Earth on Sunday, July 25.Although there is no concern that the space rock could be a threat to Earth's safety, NASA monitors them to learn more about their early orbits and to assess whether they pose any future danger to Earth.The 2008 GO20 near-Earth asteroids flew within 2.8 million miles (4.5 millions kilometers) of blue marble on its closest approach. According to news reports, it flew at 18,000 mph (nearly 299,000 km/h).Related: The Evidence of 'Planet Nine’ in Our Solar System (Gallery).It is thought to measure 318-720 feet (397-220 meters) in length. The Great Pyramid of Giza is 450 feet tall, which is 138 m. Any space rock greater than 490 feet (150 m), that is expected to pass Earth within 4.6 million (7.5 million km), is considered a potentially dangerous asteroid (PHA). NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies monitors all such PHAs. This distance is 19.5x the distance between Earth and the Moon.In reality, this distance is not even close to the closest known flyby of an asteroid (at minimum one that didn’t smash into us). This occurred on Aug. 16, 2020 when 2020 QG flew just 1,830miles (2,950km) above the Indian Ocean. Space.com, a sister site of Live Science, reported. These tiny space rocks are not dangerous to Earth's life.However, 2008 GO20 could be "potentially dangerous" as the gravitational pull of the planets could alter the object's orbital trajectory so that it crosses Earths orbit. NASA stated that a collision with our planet in the future is possible if this happens.It is not the first time that 2008 GO20 has visited Earth's homes. According to NASA records, it made its closest approach to Earth on Aug. 4, 2001, when the asteroid flew to 806,856 mi (1.3 million km). The next closest flyby occurred on July 31, 1935, at a distance 1.15 million miles (1.85million km) from Earth. It was expected that GO20 would fly as close to Earth as possible on July 24, 20342008.Original publication on Live Science
