William sent in a link to a post at MSN. I’ve found the same story at https://www.livescience.com/space/asteroids/city-killer-asteroid-has-a-1-in-83-chance-of-smashing-into-earth-in-2032-nasa-says … the asteroid, 2024YR4, was detected by NASAs asteroid terrestrial impact alert system in December. It is now a month later, January, and we have had another report of an approaching near earth object. The first report claims there is a one in 83 chance the asteroid will impact the earth in 2032. However, it will also sideswipe our planet in 2028 – and there are expected to be six more close encounters between 2032 and 2074. One may wonder how many times it has been on such a trajectory in the past.
The second one – is not an asteroid. It turns out to be Elon Musk’s red Tesla [complete with a dummy driver in a space suit]. It was launced back in 2018, attached to a Space X rocket. This one was reported by the International Astronomical Union’s minor planet centre. It claimed it was a new space rock – another Near Earth Object. It had nothing to do with NASA. The Tesla was launched into space as payload. An experiment on moving cargo up and down. It was supposed to reach Mars and then adopt an orbit around the red planet – as its new moon, if you like. The Tesla went right past Mars and continues in an orbit around the Sun. The Tesla is currently clocking up 45,000 mph and has been around the Sun four times already and is now on its fifth orbit.