Asteroid twice the size of the Burj Khalifa to pass Earth this month

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A large asteroid — named 231937 (2001 FO32), or simply 2001 FO32 — classified as "potentially hazardous" by NASA will zoom past Earth on March 21, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

At 1.7 kilometers, which is roughly equal to 1.1 miles, it would be more than twice as tall as the world's tallest man-made structure, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

RUNDOWN SHOWS:
1. Asteroid 231937 (2001 FO32) approaching Earth
2. Estimated minimum and maximum size of the asteroid
3. Comparison of asteroid's size with the Burj Khalifa
4. Orbit of the asteroid
5. Asteroid will pass Earth at distance of 1.2 million miles
6. Depiction of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program

VOICEOVER (in English):
"A large asteroid — named 231937 (2001 FO32), or simply 2001 FO32 — classified as 'potentially hazardous' by NASA will zoom past Earth on March 21, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies."

"The asteroid is possibly travelling at or 124,000 kilometers per hour, or 77,000 miles per hour, according to the center's database."

"This is very roughly comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge, which is 2.7 kilometers long."

"At 1.7 kilometers, which is roughly equal to 1.1 miles, it would be more than twice as tall as the world's tallest man-made structure, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai."

"2001 FO32's orbit is highly elliptical. It travels around the Sun once every 810 days, coming as close as 0.30 AU and reaching as far as 3.11 AU from the Sun."

"According to NASA's Asteroid Watch, it will pass Earth at a distance of
1.2 million miles, or more than 2 million kilometers, on March 21. That's more than five times the distance from the Earth to the Moon."

"The asteroid was first detected on March 23, 2001, according to EarthSky, by telescopes in New Mexico that are part of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research, or LINEAR, program. The MIT program is funded by NASA and the U.S. Air Force."

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