Part 2/14:
Recent history underscores how unpredictable and dangerous these objects can be. In 2019, asteroid OK, roughly the size of a 30-story building, was only discovered a day before it zipped past Earth at a closer-than-satellite distance. Last year, asteroid MK was detected 13 days before an even closer approach that would have been more destructive than the combined power of 3,000 to 9,000 Hiroshima bombs. These near-misses highlight the devastating consequences of late detection and the urgent need for effective planetary defense.