Potentially hazardous and valuable asteroid to fly by Earth this weekend

An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is zipping through space and will make a “near-Earth” approach this weekend. Experts say the giant space rock, which is about 1,082 feet wide, will not pose a threat to our planet because it will remain about 2.4 million miles away during its closest approach on Dec. 11.

The asteroid, known as 4660 Nereus, will streak past Earth at more than 14,000 miles per hour, according to estimates.

According to Asterank, a database that tracks over 600,000 asteroids, this low-Earth asteroid has rare earth mineral deposits, such as cobalt and nickel, valued at $4.71 billion.

There are also plans in the works to prevent any potential future collisions with Earth. In late November, NASA launched a spacecraft on a special mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock the rock off course if one were to threaten the planet. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.