Near-Earth Asteroid Eludes Detection Until Days After Close Encounter

An asteroid, named 2023 NT1, three times larger than the one that caused damage in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, was only detected two days after it made its closest approach to Earth on July 13. This highlights the blind spot in humanity's planetary protection systems. NASA and the European Space Agency are planning missions to improve early warning systems for near-Earth asteroids. The estimated number of undiscovered near-Earth asteroids between 30 and 100 meters wide is around a million. While 2023 NT1 posed no immediate threat, its close approach emphasizes the need for improved detection and monitoring of potentially hazardous asteroids.