Where to Watch Our Close Encounter with Asteroid 2012 DA14

The fear of death. That’s how a friend of mine who works in television described the essential ingredient of hit reality shows like Ice Road Truckers. That’s why people watch. Viewers of NASA Television can get a similar thrill when they tune into a half-hour broadcast LIVE from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California at 2 p.m. EST today. 

The NASA program will offer commentary and real-time animation, showing the path of the near Earth asteroid 2012 DA14, which will very nearly miss Earth. Weather permitting, NASA will also incorporate “live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia.”

The optimal time to watch is 2:25 p.m., when experts say the asteroid will pass 17,220 miles from us.

The program will be streamed LIVE here. 

To ask researchers questions about the flyby via Twitter, click here. 

Image by Dave Herald, Murrumbateman, Australia, via the European Space Agency.