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Near-Earth asteroid 2013 NE19, which is about the size of a football field, passed within 2.6 million miles of Earth on July 22. There was no danger that it would strike Earth, but there is a concern because it was discovered just last Monday (July 15). Had it been aimed at Earth, we would have had just eight days to prepare. An object that size would have the potential to cause serious damage, even catastrophic damage, if it struck a populated area or a part of the ocean that might have led to tsunamis. There are estimated to be tens of thousands of undocumented asteroids in space, and so far no comprehensive program with sufficient funding to identify and track them all.

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Asteroid 2013 LR6 will pass within 70,000 miles of Earth tonight, making its closest approach over Tasmania at 9:42 Pacific Time. The asteroid is 30 feet in diameter and NASA says it has no chance of striking our planet. What is a matter for concern, though, is that it was just discovered two days ago, on June 6. The discovery was made by NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey. The fact that it is not going to strike Earth is a matter largely of chance, and its discovery such a short time ago is an indication of how urgently NASA needs funding for a much more extensive near earth asteroid identification program.
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NASA plans to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it. Is this part of NASA’s search for potential "killer" asteroids?

At a recent Congressional hearing, NASA told lawmakers that it’s time for the private sector to aid in the search for potentially city-destroying asteroids and meteors.
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It may kick up enough red dust to set back planned missions to Mars by several years.

On the Space.com website, Mike Wall reports that a newfound comet will give Mars a close shave next year, and there’s a slim chance that it could actually hit the Red Planet.

According to NASA, Comet 2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will come within about 31,000 miles of Mars in October 2014–However, the trajectory of the comet is still not known well enough to rule out a dramatic comet collision with Mars, though that could change.
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