Asteroid to whiz pass Earth on Tuesday

An asteroid bigger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the earth and moon on Tuesday, the closest encounter by such a huge rock in 35 years - but it will not hit the earth, scientists said. "We're extremely confident that this is not a threat," said the manager of NASA's Near Earth Object Program, Don Yeomans. "But it is an opportunity."The asteroid, named 2005 YU55, is being watched by ground antennaes as it approaches from the direction of the sun.

The last time it came within so-called shouting distance was 200 years ago.

The closest approach will occur at 11.28pm GMT on Tuesday when the asteroid passes within 202,000 miles of earth. That is closer than the roughly 240,000 miles between the earth and the moon.

The moon will be just under 150,000 miles from the asteroid at the time of closest approach.

PA