The asteroid , dubbed by NASA Asteroid 2018 XE4, is expected to dash past the Earth late on Boxing Day, December 26. Scientists tracking the asteroid at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, expect an 8.37pm GMT ( UTC) flyby. During this daring transit, the asteroid will make its closest possible approach to the planet for the first and last time in its known orbit. And if NASA’s astronomers are correct in their size estimate, there is a good reason to keep a watchful eye on the space rock.

NASA asteroid WARNING: One mile wide space rock is headed to Earth

NASA’s calculations show the asteroid measures somewhere between 42.6ft and 95.1ft (13m and 29m) across.

Asteroids as small as 65ft (20m) in diameter have struck the Earth in the past, causing widespread damage and chaos.

The 2013 meteor which injured more than 1,000 people in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk is believed to have been around 65ft-wide and it did not even reach the ground.

The rogue space rock exploded over Chelyabinsk causing windows to shatter into pieces in a wide radius.

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