Asteroid 2012 DA14 passed by Earth Friday.
/ MGN
COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Planet Earth has a near miss by something that is out of this world.
The asteroid 2012 DA14, about the size of half of a football field, passed by the planet we call home Friday afternoon at 2:25PM EST.
The orbit of the asteroid brought it about 17,150 miles away from Earth.
That is less than the distance of our satellites we use to communicate and monitor weather conditions.
Those satellites orbit at approximately 22,300 miles away from Earth.
The asteroid was first discovered a year ago by Spanish astronomers and has been tracked ever since.
NASA scientists say the meteor that exploded over Russia just hours before was not related to 2012 DA14.
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