Armageddon: Asteroid May Target Earth In 2036
MIAMI (CBS4) - If you had your money on 2012 being the end of the world, it may be closer to 2036, and it may be time to page Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.
Russian scientists now say the 99942 Apophis asteroid does in fact have a chance to hit Earth, according to United Press International, on April 13, 2036.
NASA scientists had said there was a 2.7 percent chance of Apophis smashing into Earth in 2029.
The asteroid, which is roughly the size of two football fields will get as close to earth as 23,000 miles on April 13, 2029.
This led Professor Leonid Sokolov of St. Petersburg State University to put the likely collision date on April 13, 2036.
But don't start the doomsday planning just yet. According to the UPI report, NASA said the chance of a collision is 1 in 250,000.
Sokolov's findings were based on the asteroid traveling what the UPI described as a "gravitational keyhole" as it zooms past the Earth in 2029. The keyhole is roughly 2,000 feet across and could give Apophis enough of a nudge to set it up for a collision.
If you're interested in checking out Apophis, it will make a close approach to Earth late next year and in early 2013, NASA scientists told the Christian Science Monitor.
