End of world? Spaceship flies by Earth chasing 'threatening' asteroid amid Doomsday fears

News of the manoeuvre, called an Earth gravity assist,
has come amid claims by conspiracy theorists that a
mysterious planet will collide with the Earth and cause
the world to end today.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx flew approximately 11,000 miles
above Antarctica.
The spacecraft used the planet’s gravity to help it pick
up speed on its way to explore the asteroid.
Its velocity change was 8,451 miles per hour as a
result of the flyby, according to Nasa.
Nasa launched OSIRIS-REx from Florida in 2016 to
chase down Bennu, a dark asteroid that could one day
threaten Earth.
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The probe is scheduled to arrive at Bennu in August
2018 and will survey the asteroid for several months.
Then, in July 2020, it is expected to use its robot arm
to blast the asteroid with nitrogen, causing it to kick
up rocks and dust.
It will try to snag a sample of the dust to bring back to
Earth as it returns in 2023.
Dante Lauretta, the mission's principal investigator,
last month said: "The Earth gravity assist is a clever
way to move the spacecraft onto Bennu's orbital plane
using Earth's own gravity instead of expending fuel.”
While OSIRIS-REx was making its flyby, mission
scientists at the University of Arizona tested its
instruments and used the spacecraft's camera to take
pictures of the Earth and moon.
Incredible mappings of the
moon in TECHNICOLOR
Mon, July 31, 2017
Scientists can now accurately portray the shape of
the entire moon at high resolution
PLAY
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter science
team released the highest resolution near-global
topographic map of the moon ever created [NASA]
NASA 1 of 9
Nasa also encouraged amateur astronomers with
specialised gear to photograph OSIRIS-REx as it
passed by and to share their photos with the space
agency.
Mr Lauretta said: ”The opportunity to capture images
of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft as it approaches Earth
provides a unique challenge for observers to hone their
skills during this historic flyby.”
It comes as conspiracy theorist claim the colossal
Planet X, also known as Nibiru, will approach Earth
from beyond the solar system and trigger the end
times.
Theorists, who have spent their lives decoding hidden
biblical prophecies and secrets, believe that the world
could come to an end this Saturday, September 23.
Nibiru: Photos of the 'death
planet'
Fri, September 22, 2017
Planet X has been caught on camera, it has been
claimed

Doom mongers are expecting the end times to start
this weekend and have claimed that several cosmic
signs will appear in the sky to mark the start of the
Rapture.
However, NASA has vehemently denied Nibiru's
existence.
NASA has said: "The planet in question, Nibiru, doesn't
exist, so there will be no collision.
"The story of Nibiru has been around for years (as has
the 'days of darkness' tale) and is periodically
recycled into new apocalyptic fables.”

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