The European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that its automated planetary defense system issued a warning on July 6 after detecting an object hurtling towards Earth. However, follow-up observations determined that the object was not an asteroid but instead ESA’s Juice spacecraft, which is en route to the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission.
Juice’s solar panel wings measure 27 meters (88 feet) from tip to tip, making it appear bright and reflective, leading the automated system to initially estimate the object’s size at around 50 meters (164 feet) in diameter. This highlights the importance of follow-up observations in identifying potential hazards.
Scanning the skies for potentially menacing objects is crucial, as it gives us time to prepare and evacuate if necessary. As Eric Christensen, director of the near-Earth object- seeking Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, noted, “You need to know what’s coming, when it’s coming, and how hard it’s going to hit.”
While some space rocks do veer into our neck of the solar system, there are no known asteroids on course to collide with our planet for at least the next 100 years.
Source: https://mashable.com/article/asteroid-detection-spacecraft-juice