Asteroids of various sizes to pass close by Earth.
An asteroid the size of six Darth Vaders is set to pass the Earth on May 4, also known as Star Wars Day, at a very close distance, according to NASA's asteroid tracker. The asteroid in question has been designated 2023 HF7, having been discovered this year. It is also just the first in a trilogy of asteroids set to pass by the Earth on Thursday, but it will also be passing by at a much closer distance than the others. Scientists are hard at work finding ways to defend the Earth from asteroids, and the most promising result of this research is NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission.