The 2018 CB asteroid, thought to be even bigger than the Chelyabinsk space rock which exploded over Russia this month five years ago, will pass within 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) of Earth on Friday.
Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said that such asteroids "do not often approach this close to our planet — maybe only once or twice a year."
He claimed that the 2018 CB asteroid will closely approach Earth but will not pose a threat to the planet.
At the same time, he warned that "it is a reminder that asteroids can pass very close to our planet and it's important that we find these objects when they do get close."
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Chodas said that with the 2018 CB estimated to be 50 feet to 130 feet (15 meters to 40 meters) in size, the space rock "might well be larger" that the 20-meter Chelyabinsk meteor which hit the Earth on February 15, 2013, injuring about 1,500 people in Russia's Urals area, most from broken glass.
