Could an asteroid hit the moon? Odds rise after NASA’s Webb telescope examines 2024 YR4. The projections

Earth is perfectly safe from a menacing asteroid known as 2024 YR4 that is big enough to level a city, but the moon? Not so much.

The odds that the asteroid could crash into our celestial neighbor only continue to climb every time astronomers have the chance to better study the massive space rock.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope caught the latest glimpse in May of YR4. The resulting data led the U.S. space agency to conclude that a 4.3% chance exists that YR4 is on a doomed collision course with the moon in 2032, NASA said in a June 5 blog post.

That may not sound high, but keep this in mind: After YR4 was first discovered in late-2024, its odds of impact with Earth briefly rose to historically high levels – of just 3.1%. That was all it took for the space rock to grab headlines and warrant close attention from astronomers before it was eventually ruled out as a threat to our planet during an upcoming flyby in seven years.

There will be no NASA in three years because of Trump.