An asteroid will zoom within spitting distance of Earth next week, in what NASA says is the closest flyby ever predicted for an object this large.
Named the 2012-DA-14, the asteroid was discovered by chance by astronomers after it passed nearby last February.
It will be just 27 700 km above Earth's surface when it speeds by next week.
That is outside the Earth's atmosphere, but closer than the orbit of most weather and communications satellites.
The asteroid is predicted to come closest to Earth next Friday at 21.20, South African time, and will pass over the Indian Ocean.
