NASA’s planetary defense capabilities were put to the test as a small asteroid, named 2024 BX1, harmlessly disintegrated over Germany. The asteroid, approximately 3 feet in size, was detected by NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system, providing advanced warning of its impact on Earth’s atmosphere. This marked the eighth time in history that a small Earth-bound asteroid has been detected while still in space, before entering and disintegrating in our atmosphere.

The bright fireball produced by the asteroid’s impact was visible from as far away as the Czech Republic, and there is a possibility that small meteorites were scattered on the ground at the impact site, located approximately 37 miles west of Berlin. Following the event, the asteroid was designated as 2024 BX1.

While NASA continuously monitors near-Earth objects (NEOs) of all sizes, the agency has been specifically tasked with detecting and tracking NEOs 140 meters in size and larger, which could potentially cause significant damage if they were to impact our planet. The early detection of such objects is crucial in developing appropriate defense strategies.

Despite posing no immediate threat to life on Earth, the occurrence of tiny asteroids like 2024 BX1 serves as a valuable demonstration of NASA’s planetary defense capabilities, including the rapid-response trajectory computation and impact alerts provided by Scout.

The asteroid 2024 BX1 was first observed less than three hours before its impact by Krisztián Sárneczky at Piszkéstető Mountain Station of the Konkoly Observatory near Budapest, Hungary. These early observations were reported to the Minor Planet Center, and subsequently, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California utilized the data to calculate the object’s trajectory and potential impact hazards.