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Asteroids are small, rocky bodies that orbit the Sun.

An asteroid larger than London Bridge is due to enter Earth orbit on Thursday, September 17th.

The asteroid, officially known as Asteroid 2014 QJ33, will fly near Earth on September 17 at 19,371 miles per hour. That’s 8.66 kilometers per second!

NASA is tracking the asteroid, which is expected to be between 48 and 110 meters wide, or 157 to 360 feet – which could mean that it is larger than London Bridge!

But there is nothing to worry about – it will pass near our planet at a safe distance – exactly 1,592,819 miles from Earth.

Just last week, Two more asteroids passed close to Earth in two days.

Bridge of londonGetty Images

Imagine a giant space rock the size of this bridge – this is how the asteroid 2014 QJ33 could be large

What are asteroids?

Asteroids are giant space rocks in our solar system that orbit the sun.

They are sometimes called NEOs – NEOs.

No asteroid has collided with Earth in 66 million years That caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

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Watch: How NASA Plans To Prevent Asteroids From Hitting Earth In The Future (2017)

There are a lot of asteroids – more than 2,000 – that NASA constantly watches and classifies as dangerous. However, the chances of them hitting the ground are still very slim.

NASA also has a plan to hit any piece of space rock that could hit the planet …

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In the meantime just last month, NASA was surprised by an asteroid the size of a car flying over the planet It was the closest mistake a space rock had ever recorded.