What is National Near Miss Day?

NEAR MISS DAY IS THE NATIONAL NEAR MISS DAY.

From a national perspective, many of us face a near miss here and there every day. As a major asteroid (4581 Asclepius) nearly struck us in 1989, a massive asteroid (4581 Asclepius) nearly struck us on the day the entire Earth faced a near miss. The day 4581 Asclepius flew right on by, as the national Near Miss Day commemorates.

A mountain-sized asteroid came within 500,000 miles of colliding with the earth on March 22-23, 1989. "On the cosmic scale of things, that was a close call," Dr. Henry Holt said. According to geophysicists, a collision with Asclepius would release electricity comparable to the explosion of a 600 megaton nuclear bomb. A collision would have had catastrophic consequences on our planet. The asteroid was discovered on March 31, 1989, nine days after it had been the closest approach to Earth.

There have been other near misses that have occurred on a regular basis.